


Packaged Deal: Prologue

by VideoPlay5178



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-09
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-11 09:39:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3322685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VideoPlay5178/pseuds/VideoPlay5178
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fake AH Crew was one of the most notorious groups in the business. Comprised of some of the deadliest men and women in the world, they knew everything about each other, accept for Ray and Ryan. No one knew anything about them. How did Ray lose his eye? How did Ryan lose his arm? How the hell were they dating? How did they meet?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thank you so much for reading! Please send me feed back!

“I bet Ray tried to sell him weed.” Michael slurred, already on his fifth beer. “Ray tries to sell weed to everybody!”

  
Gavin laughed at Michael, drunk himself. “You’re drunk Michoo!” He pointed at Ray and Ryan who sat calmly next to each other. “Ryan probably tried to bloody murder him!”

  
Jack shook his head. “I think all of you have had enough to drink.” He sighed, a very giggly, drunk Geoff leaning against him.

  
“Ray probably sucked his dick for five bucks!” Geoff laughed, looking at Ray and Ryan. This was their usual game, who could guess how Ray and Ryan met. “Am I close?”

  
The pair in question didn’t even need to glance at each other. “You’re close.” Ray smiled. “I do remember dick sucking.” Which wasn’t unnecessarily untrue, but also vague enough that the drunk men all groaned and Jack just laughed.

  
“There definitely was a rocket involved.” Ryan dead panned, nothing being given away because of his skull mask, but Ray heard the laughter in his voice.

  
Ray nodded, just going with Ryan’s words. “That was fucking cool, that astronauts were nice.” Ryan gave one quick affirmative nod.

  
Everyone in the room stared at them wide eyed, then Gavin lost it. “You bloody went to the moon?!” He squawked, his accent thicker than normal.

  
“Rocket Maaaaaaaan!” Geoff sang off key, laughing.

  
Jack shook his head. He couldn’t tell if Ryan and Ray were joking because they both looked so calm. Well, Jack couldn’t see Ryan’s face, but he wasn’t chuckling or giving any other indication that he was amused. Ray was worse, Jack could see his face but it was the usual serious calm that it always was.

  
Michael was laughing along with Gavin. “There’s no fucking way!” He snorted, chugging what remained of his beer.

  
“They needed help with their rocket fuel.” Ryan supplied like it was obvious that fucking NASA would ask a psychopath for help.

  
“You know Ryan and his explosions.” Ray added on, calm as ever although he was dying from laughter on the inside.

  
The others just laughed and Jack shook his head. A few more hours were spent on guessing the true story, ideas of moon fucking and space blow jobs were thrown around before Michael and Gavin passed out and Jack started to drag Geoff to his room.

  
Ray and Ryan left Michael and Gavin to sleep on the couch tangled with each other and entered the room they borrowed when they stayed at Geoff’s apartment. As soon as the door was closed both man burst out laughing.

  
“A rocket!” Ray managed out between laughs. “Why the fuck did you go to space!”

  
“I thought it would be interesting!” Ryan laughed, holding onto the wall for support. “And it was!”

  
Ray held his stomach he was laughing so hard. “That doesn’t mean you go to the fucking moon!” He shook his head, calming down.

  
Ryan snorted, smiling at Ray. “They’re drunk, they won’t remember in the morning.” He said, pulling his mask off and tossing it aside. He had decided to not put his face pain on tonight.

  
Ray smiled back at his boyfriend. “Jack wasn’t drunk.” He pointed out, taking his shoes off and collapsing onto the bed. “And no face paint?”

  
Ryan shrugged, taking his coat and shoes off and setting them aside. He climbed onto the bed and pulled Ray into his lap, nuzzling into the younger man’s neck. “He won’t ask questions.” He kisses Ray’s shoulder. “I didn’t feel like putting it on.”

  
Ray leaned back into Ryan, smiling. “You always put the paint on, do I sense that you’re starting to trust the others?”

  
Ryan shook his head, rubbing Ray’s sides. “Did I see a smile earlier at one of Gavin’s jokes? Are you trusting them?” He asked.

  
They both knew the answer to those questions but they let it hang in the air. It had been a long time since they had trusted anyone but each other. Ray reached up and easily removed his robotic right eye from its socket, pulling out its box from his jacket pocket. He placed the eye in the box and set it on the side table. “Arm.” Ray ordered, looking at Ryan.

  
Ryan sighed, he hated taking his arm off while he slept, he was terrified that someone would attack them and he wouldn’t be able to protect Ray. However, they were in Geoff’s apartment and no criminal, big or small, would ever break into the crime bosses home. He reached for his left arm, pressing the release button that detached it from his stub. He handed it to Ray who laid it on the side table next to his eye.

  
Ray snuggled into Ryan’s chest, keeping his right eye lids closed. “When do you think we should tell them the real story?” He asked, yawning.

  
Ryan smiled, holding Ray tightly with his right arm. “I’m perfectly happy with them never knowing.”

  
“We should tell them something at least. I do trust them.” Ray countered, looking up at Ryan.

  
Ryan kissed Ray’s forehead. “I know my rose. So do I.” He admitted.


	2. Packaged Deal: Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From here the story starts from how Ray and Ryan actually met. It all starts when Ryan moves in next to Ray.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m going to switch point of view every page break, and if you have any feed back please send me an ask. Thank you for reading!

            Moving to New York was the worst idea he’s had in a few years. He hated big cities, there were too many people, too much traffic, and too much noise. He was a southern boy, he was used to fields and the Georgia sun, not thousands of cars and smog. However, New York was a big city which meant that anyone could get away with a lot of things if they were careful.

            He had gotten a nice apartment on the better end of the city. The building was tiny compared to the skyline buildings, but he could see a good portion of the area from his window. It was a good spot to people watch from. Sadly, the building was old and he did not trust that elevator to lift a feather so he had to carry box after box of things into his new apartment on the top floor.

            He placed the last box on the floor of what would become his living room and leaned on top of it. Why did he have to have so many things? Regardless, now started the painful process of unpacking everything he had painful packed away. He had taken the majority of his things from his college apartment which he had shared with three other men, and a few things from his parent’s home in Georgia.

            Having an apartment to himself would be wonderful. He wouldn’t have to clean up other people’s messes and he could run around naked if he wanted to, although he probably wouldn’t, it was wonderful having the option.

            He picked up the box labeled kitchen and started to head towards the tiny area when a cough nearly made him drop the box. He looked at his entrance way to see a young man standing in his door. The kid was smiling kindly at him, his brown eyes were bright behind thick rimmed glasses and he seemed rather pale for having naturally dark skin. He wore a bright purple jacket with a black t-shirt and baggy jeans. He didn’t even look old enough for college.

            “Oh, uh. Hello.” Yes, rather intelligent Ryan, very intelligent.

            The young man chuckled, smiling at him. “Sorry to scary you man, I just happened to notice that you’re moving in next door.” He said, pointing behind him at the door across the hall from the one he was standing in. “Nice to meet you neighbor.”

            He blinked at the younger man confused before smiling at him, offering a hand. “Oh, it’s nice to meet you as well. I’m Ryan Haywood.”

            “I’m Ray Narvaez Jr.” The young man said, taking Ryan’s hand and giving it a firm shake. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

            Ryan nodded, taking his hand back. “I would offer you a drink or something, but I haven’t done any unpacking.”

            Ray nodded. “I noticed.” He chuckled. “Just thought I would introduce myself.” He said, going over to his own door and opening it. “Since we’re going to be running into each other a lot.”

            Ryan nodded, finding this encounter rather strange and awkward. Ray seemed unsure of what to do with himself, he would open his mouth to start the conversation one way then change his mind to say something else. It was strange. “Well it was nice meeting you.” The least the kid could do was offer to help, he wouldn’t accept it, but at least he could offer.

            Ray nodded, awkwardly standing in front of his door, making no move to open it or talk further. They just stared at each other waiting for something to happen. “Right, so uh…” Ray shifted awkwardly on his feet. “um.”

            Ryan smiled, Ray’s awkwardness suited him in a weird way. It was adorable, but of course, Ryan was way too old for this kid, Ray probably wasn’t even in college yet. Now he just felt like a gross old man. “Well I’ll see you around Ray.” He said, moving to pick up and move the kitchen box again. He was hoping that it would snap Ray out of his awkward trance.

            “Do you need any help?” Ray poked his head into Ryan’s apartment, having found his words. “I mean it’s cool if you don’t, I mean. I’m just some weird kid next door, but I mean. I thought I should offer. And you don’t have to pay me! That’s fine, I mean. Uh.” Okay, maybe he found too many words.

            Ryan chuckled and looked back at Ray, setting the box on the rickety old table that come with the apartment. The apartment was beautiful, but the kitchen was much to be desired. “If you’re not busy, I could use the help.” Why was he accepting help from this kid? Oh right, he found him endearing and adorable. What was he doing with his life?

            Ray smiled at Ryan and entered the apartment. “What do you need me to do?”

            Ryan quickly learned a few things about Ray. First, he was not used to manual labor because he kept lifting the damn boxes with his back not his knees. Second, he was not a high school student, he was actually in college although he was undecided. Third, and finally, he was a cute little asshole with which Ryan had a lot in common with. 

            Ray was twenty one and was going to a community college nearby. He had lived his entire life in New York, but his family lived some time away from where Ray was going to school so Ray lived on his own. He was working at a nearby GameStop, and that topic lead Ray into bragging about his high as hell gamer score. He had no idea what he was going to do with his life, and he hated school although he continued to go for his parent’s sake.

            Ryan was far too pleased with learning all of this about his neighbor. A nine year difference between them was not as bad as it seemed. He knew of people whose parents were ten years apart so he could care less about the age gap. Anything more than ten was a no go and Ray was just under that. He couldn’t help but laugh when Ray opened Ryan’s living room box and found his many consoles and games. Somewhere between Ray loving each game and console he pulled out, and setting up the consoles to Ryan’s TV, they agreed to make Friday game night.

            Ryan was amazed at how quickly Ray had wormed his way into his head and into his home. Ray was a kid yeah, but he was wise for just a kid, he had a lot of common sense and common sense got a person far in the world. He was quite taken with this one, and he hadn’t dated since high school. He had come to New York for a change in pace, maybe he should try to pursue this awkwardly adorable and smart young man. It wouldn’t hurt to try.

* * *

 

            It had been a great afternoon. He had met his hot new neighbor who turned out to be just a giant nerd, but a hot giant nerd, not that Ray was complaining. Nerds were the best, plus, Ryan had nearly every game consoles available and a shit ton of good games to go along with them. Of all of the people Ray could have ended up living next to, he was happy as hell that it was Ryan.

            He had learned a lot about the guy. He was thirty years old, only a nine year difference, not bad, not bad at all. He was also from Georgia, and a true southern gentlemen. He was going to be working for an advertisement company not far from the apartment building. Ray personally thought that Ryan would make a better model then an advertisement guy, and when he voiced that opinion he gained such an awkward look from Ryan that he knew there was a story waiting to be told. Ryan also loved gaming, and by Friday, they would know which of them was the better gamer, although Ray was sure he could beat Ryan at nearly anything.

            He had left Ryan’s apartment with the promise that they would have a game night every Friday and he was unbelievably excited about it. Ryan was just his type and he wanted to get back to dating. It had been awhile, and he needed something new. Granted, he had picked up a new hobby recently that was why he was on top of a random building, looking through a nose scope. His signature pink sniper rifle was loaded and ready as he scanned the crowd of late night partiers in an apartment building a few hundred feet from where Ray was laying prone on the gravel roof.

            He watched the people dance and party. This was his new hobby, he always loved being the sniper in video games, who knew he would enjoy it just as much in real life? He couldn’t remember when he had first picked up a riffle, it hadn’t been long ago, but it felt like he had been doing it for ages.

            As he watched the partiers dance, a man and women stumbled out onto the balcony of the apartment. He watched the two closely. The guy was getting too close and the girl didn’t seem to be liking it. He aimed, he fired, and it was so unbelievable quiet. He saw the guy’s blood splatter and cover the girl. He saw her scream and the people at the party panic. He couldn’t hear any of it, yet he could. He knew the sounds of the shrieks and screams, but only the sound of his gun rattled around in his ears.

            Ray smiled, watching drunk people panic was the best part. They would freak out and fall all over each other. Half of them didn’t know what the fuck was going on and the other half knew what was going on and were flailing around, trying to figure out what to do. The girl was still screaming at the dead body draped on her when Ray finally looked away. He was quick, he grabbed the shell casing and pulled the blanket he used to lay on up and into his back pack. He took apart his gun in seconds, placing the pieces into his bag before using the fire escape to scale down the sketchy back side of the building. He used a silencer on his gun so people would dismiss the sound as some heater or air conditioner was messing up and he always chose buildings where no one could look out the window and see a casual sniper laying on a roof.

            He was known as the Sniper and his kills were so easy that it was nearly boring. He would hang around Facebook and Twitter, waiting for someone to mention something about a party. From there, the internet made finding the location of those parties easy. Once he had a location, he would scope out the area, look for the best place to see the party and not be seen. His skills in games translated to the real world, it seemed, because no matter how difficult the shot, he always hit his mark. He was doing a party every two weeks, and he had given himself a challenge every single time.

            Maybe it was a little insane, maybe it was a little murderous, but it was fun. There was an adrenaline rush from pulling the trigger, knowing that someone on the other end was going to die. The amusement he got from watching people panic. It was fun, maybe too much fun, but Ray could care less. They couldn’t catch him, he was too careful. The police couldn’t even figure out where he was shooting from anymore. He was too good. That should have scared him, he should have felt some guilt at shooting people, but he didn’t, and it was amazing.

* * *

 

            Moving in had not been as hellish as Ryan had thought it would have been. With Ray’s help he was able to unpack in record time. He had left his more personal items in their boxes and had placed them in his room. He didn’t want Ray to see some things, it would scare him away, just as Ryan had decided that he was worth pursuing. Ray, of course, had joked that Ryan had sex toys in those boxes, but he had something more deadly than that.

            As soon as Ray had left, he had rushed to his bedroom and closed the door. He had opened the first box and started to pull out his new toys. Knives and guns of all kinds, shapes, and sizes, filled the boxes. There was an entire box dedicated to explosives and another to the weapons he was planning on making himself. He felt giddy. This was why he moved to the city. A big city made finding criminals rather difficult.

            He had never killed a human before. He had killed plenty of animals, squirrels, cats, dogs. It was thrilling at first, but he soon got bored of animals. They were easy. Humans however, they were hard, very hard. Sure many people would label him as a psychopath, and he was for the most part, but he had a rational mind. He knew he had to clean up his messes and he knew how to keep from being caught.

            In another, smaller, box was his get up. He had taken a few days to decide on his outfit, it had to be perfect. The victim couldn’t be able to recognize him if they managed to somehow survive and he couldn’t leave anything behind that would lead the cops back to him. He pulled out the mask and make up first, he had two lines of defense. He would cover his face in war paint and wear a black skull mask on top. A comfortable t-shirt under a pleather purple and black jacket and comfortable jeans wouldn’t leave fabrics behind and would ensure mobility. Rubber boots with no tread made him quiet and prevented foot prints. Black pleather gloves to prevent his finger prints from getting anywhere and hidden compartments for any and all weapons.

            He had a plan for the murders too. His apartment was close to construction and some shady bits of New York. It would be easy for him to sneak around in the back allies, chose a victim then dumb the body in the nearest hole. With luck, the workers would fill the hole before they even noticed the body.

            Maybe he had thought this out too much, maybe he was a psychopath. But he honestly didn’t care. He suited up and left his apartment through the fire escape, glad that he had direct access to the back of the building from his bedroom, and began to wonder around in the allies quiet. He watched people passing on busier streets, hiding in the shadows. No one saw him and if they did, they didn’t make a fuse over him.

            He waited as the night grew later and less and less people were on the streets. He wondered from ally entrance to entrance, deciding who to kill and with what. As the night wore on, there were less people on the streets, and those who wondered at this late hour were too tired to care about anyone but themselves.

            Ryan saw a women, worn from a long day or maybe slightly drunk, stumbling down the street in a purple business suit and pencil skirt. There was no one else around and she wouldn’t be able to fight back, she looked too drunk. He moved swiftly and with grace, he placed his hand over the women’s mouth and dragged her into the ally. He had a knife to her throat, but she still struggled. She tried to bite his hand, but the gloves came in handy, protecting his fingers from her teeth.

            Ryan wasted no time and stabbed the women in the chest, making sure to puncture a lung. She whimpered behind his hand, coughing up blood as soon as he removed the knife. Adrenalin pumped through his system, he felt a crazed smile grow under his mask. He stabbed her again and again, his hands became covered in blood. The women stopped struggling after the fifth stab. After the sixth she went slack in his arms. After the seventh he knew she was dead, but he stabbed her an eighth time just to make sure. A ninth for the fun of it.

            He was shaking, and he let the body drop to the ground. His hands were covered in blood, they were warm, really warm. He wanted to take the gloves off but he knew that he couldn’t. Instead he cleaned his knife on her blood stained jacket and put it back in its sheath. He watched the women bleed out for a moment. The pool of blood was beautiful, it flowed from her chest and her mouth like waterfalls pooling into a giant lake.

            Ryan shook himself out of his trance, picked the women up and heaved her onto his shoulder. He spread the blood around with his foot, mixing it with the dirt and trash until it looked like nothing of importance. Soon he was running for the construction site and soon enough he was standing at the edge of a freshly dug hole. He tossed the women’s body in and her bones made a wonderful crunching sound when they hit the bottom. The hole was a deep one, maybe it was meant for a septic tank or some sort of plumbing. He didn’t care, he left the site quickly and quietly, buzzing with excitement. He checked his path, destroying any blood trail left.

            Maybe he was insane, to be so excited that he had just killed his first human. Maybe he was a psychopath, cleaning away the blood on his clothing. Maybe he was mad because he looked like a monster with or without the mask. But he didn’t care.

* * *

 

            “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!” Ray was laughing so hard he was holding his sides. “Y-you actually used to be a model!?” He was rolling around on his spot on floor he was laughing so hard. He had joked about Ryan being a model but hadn’t thought that he would actually be one. It was also that point in the night where everything was a million times funnier than it should have been.

            Ryan had a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. “Yes.” He grumbled out, looking away from the laughing mess Ray was. He would still glance at him however, the way Ray’s entire body shook when he laughed was adorable.

            Ray’s face was pink from laughing and he whipped his eyes. “Holy shit dude, I didn’t actually think you were one.”

            Ryan sighed. “It was my mother’s idea, and I stupidly went along with it.” He explained, watching Ray right himself. There was a perfectly good couch behind them, however, as their first game night went on, they found that the floor was more comfortable and it was much easier to secretly move closer to each other until they were shoulder to shoulder.

            Ray shook his head. “That’s fucking awesome. What did they have you do?” He had honestly no idea how modeling worked. He never paid attention to fashion or those TV dramas about models unless it was ironic or someone non-stop told him about it. Since neither of those things were often enough to happen, Ray just didn’t care about models until now.

            Ryan’s blush deepened to a more visible color and he sighed. “I was a gnome.” He mumbled nearly inaudibly, but Ray was close enough to hear it and he lost it. Ray had toppled over immediately from laughter, holding his sides and trying to not to hit his head on anything as he rolled around.

            “A _gnome_?! A fucking gnome!” Ray laughed while Ryan huffed, still blushing but also smiling.

            “Yes a gnome now shut up.” Ryan swatted at Ray as the younger man started to calm down.

            “That’s fucking funny.” Ray smiled at Ryan, sitting up right again, whipping a tear from his eye. “Why the hell were you a gnome?”

            “I don’t know!” Ryan groaned, still smiling. He usually hated this story, but he didn’t mind telling Ray. “They just put me in this costume and made me sit on a fucking mushroom!”

            Ray snorted, he was about to take a drink, luckily he didn’t. “You were sitting on a mushroom? Oh that’s priceless. Please tell me there are pictures of this?” He smiled. Ryan had awesome stories and he was a fun guy. He made technology sound interesting and he was decent at games. He wasn’t at Ray’s level, but he was still pretty good. Plus his smile was just breath taking.

            Ryan shook his head. “There are, but you’re never seeing them!” he declared, smiling.

            “Oh come on man! That’s not fair!” Ray laughed, bumping into Ryan’s shoulder.

            Ryan laughed. “Too bad.” He said, bumping Ray back.

            They had started the game night around five, eating pizza and playing video games until they got hungry again and Ryan started to dig out some of the snack foods he had just gotten. By that point, games had long since been forgotten and they had just settled on talking about anything that came to mind. They were slowly falling in love with each other, and both of them knew it. Ryan didn’t want to make a move yet, this was only the first night, and Ray didn’t want to make a move yet because he was still too nervous.

            Both were rather happy with how their neighbor situation turned out, and both were dead set on keeping their murderous alter egos away from the other.

            As Ray and Ryan talked and enjoyed each other’s company, the police scrambled to find the murders of party goers, and the terrifying number of bodies found in the hole at the construction site. 


	3. Packaged Deal: Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray’s about to be evicted, but he has a clever plan to stay Ryan’s neighbor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave feed back! Thank you fro reading!

            “There were four more murders last night. Two completed by the Sniper and another two by the Hole Murderer.” The news droned on and on about the murders by the same two murders. Ray stopped paying attention as he lazily ate his toast. What the hell kind of name was the ‘Hole Murderer’ anyway? Did the creativity department at the police station run out of creative names to give mass murders? He really didn’t have room to talk, he was ‘the Sniper’ after all.

            He glanced at the TV as a news caster reported something or other about who was thrown into the hole at the construction site. Who was this Hole Murderer? He was good whoever he was. The police weren’t even sure where the victims were taken from. There were no videos of them being taken and no random pools of blood all over town. At first all of the victims were had been stabbed to death, now it seemed the method of death had changed to strangling.

            It had been three months since the Hole Murderer had popped up, and they had already killed eight people. They were spreading out the murders like Ray was, the harder it was to predict when a murder would happen, the harder they were to catch. He found he shared a lot in common with the new murderer in town. Neither of them had pattern. Ray would go whenever he felt like it, and Mr or Mrs. Hole seemed to have an erratic killing schedule. Both were well organized and well hidden. The only difference was that Ray did not want to get up front and personal with the person he killed. That’s what told the police that they had not one, but two murders on the loose.           

            Now it really felt like a game. There was a competition. The Hole Murderer was catching up to Ray’s kill total. Ray still had the upper hand, but he wasn’t about to relax. This was a game and a new challenger had just arrived. Ray couldn’t help but smile, wondering if he would meet this Hole Murderer. Although, he supposed that would ruin the fun of it.

            Ray jumped when there was a knock on his door. He turned and looked at the white wooden door shocked. He never got visitors and if he did, both Ryan and his parents texted him before knocking, the weirdoes. Another knock told him that he didn’t imagine the first one and he shoved the remains of his toast into his mouth before rushing to answer the door. Just as he was about to turn the handle, he realized that he should really be wearing pants before greeting a guest of any kind, even if he was about to be murdered. Wouldn’t want to die in just his boxers, no way in hell.

            “Give me a second!” He shouted, scrambling to his bedroom and pulling on the first pair of pants he saw. When was the last time he washed these? He had no idea, but he highly doubted that his unannounced guest would be smelling his pants.

            There was another, more impatient knock, just as Ray skidded out of his room and fast walked to his door. “I’m opening it!” He snorted impatiently back, opening the door.

            On the other side of the door was a very angry looking old man with a cane. It was his land lord, which made Ray wince and also very happy that he bothered to put pants on. Although, now that he was thinking about it, the old fart was short and had a hunch, so maybe he could smell Ray’s pants.

            “You ungrateful brat!” The old man hissed, waving his cane at Ray. “Getting hot with me!” He grumbled inaudible for a moment before slamming his cane into the ground. “You haven’t paid your rent!”

            Ray winced again, he knew there was something he was forgetting (aka ignoring until it bit him in the ass, which it was currently doing). “I’m getting my pay check next week!” He defended himself, that was true, but it wouldn’t be enough to cover his rent. His boss had decided to cut back on everyone’s pay check so Ray was no longer making enough to buy food and pay his rent.

            The old man scoffed at him, slamming his cane into the ground again. “I’ve already given you an extension! I need your rent by the end of this week!” He started to hobble down the hallway. “If I don’t have it, you’re being evicted!”

            Ray watched the old bastard start down the stairs with a groan. He couldn’t ask his parents for money, they were already paying for his schooling, he couldn’t ask them to also pay for his rent too. He had already asked his boss for a raise and that had gone horribly. He couldn’t do anything else other than play video games and shoot people. He was fucked.

            Ray groaned again, sitting in his door way and holding his head. What was he going to do? Living here had just gotten a shit ton better because of Ryan. He didn’t want to lose it all already.

            Just as he had through of the handsome devil, Ryan opened the door to his apartment. He stared blankly at Ray for a moment before looked down the hall way to see if someone had just sucker punched his friend in the gut then made a run for it. He had heard the landlord out here earlier yelling about something.

            “Are you okay Ray?” He asked, closing his door behind him and locking it. He had to go to work in a few minutes, but he could always find time for Ray.

            Ray sighed. “Well, I’m going to be evicted.” He admitted, holding his head. “So no, I’m not fucking okay.” Okay, maybe that was a little too much bitter and sarcasm, but Ray couldn’t find it in himself to care at this point.

            Ryan frowned. “I thought you got enough money from the GameStop.” He watched Ray, worried. He didn’t like the idea of the young man being forced into the streets. He wasn’t too worried about Ray being murdered by the Hole Murderer, because Ryan was the Hole Murderer, but he was concerned about this sniper guy running around.

            Ray groaned, pulling at his hair in stress. “My fucking bastard of a boss decided to cut our pay. I’m going to have to find another job to afford the rent.” He didn’t want to do that. Another job meant no sleep or game time. That also meant that he might not be able to go to his and Ryan’s game nights.

            Ryan frowned, thinking. “Well, you don’t have many classes at the college right? You probably have the time to have another job.” He offered.

            Ray sighed. “Doesn’t matter if I get another job now, I’m still fucked.” He gestured angrily down the hall. “Because that old mother fucker wants the rent by the end of this week even though I’m supposed to have two weeks!” He started yelling half way through the sentence, as though the landlord would be able to hear him.

            “It’s only Tuesday, surly you can do something.” Ryan said, trying to remember if they needed help in his office. He couldn’t recall any job offerings, but maybe he could work something out.

            Ray sighed, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t get the check this week though.” He pulled himself to his feet. “And it’s not like I’m good at anything other than video games and well, video games!” He was also really good at sniping people, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud. “I can barely do my job at GameStop!”

            “Maybe another retail job?” Ryan offered with an awkward shrug. The only job he could see Ray doing at his work would be an errand boy, and he doubted that Ray would want or be able to last doing that job.

            “I could ask my Dad if I could work at his bar again, but that’s half way across town!” Ray groaned, trying to think of another retail job that wouldn’t drive him insane. He was coming up blank, and it wasn’t like he could magically make video games or being the Sniper into suitable jobs over night.

            Ryan sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you then Ray.” He said, shaking his head. “But please don’t do anything illegal like sell drugs or, I don’t know, murder people.” That last part was ironic coming from him, but fuck it. Ray didn’t need blood on his hands.

            Ray paused at Ryan’s words. He couldn’t be a dealer, he didn’t have the people skills for it, nor did he have any idea on how to start, but being a mercenary? That he could do. He could spend the week doing small kills, everyone had someone they wanted dead right? He could scope out high end parties, yeah. He could make that work, but how would he get his services out to people?

            Ryan frowned, either Ray got an idea, or froze. Either way he was worried about his friend. “Ray? You okay?”

            Ray suddenly smiled brightly at Ryan, making the older man’s heart do a weird flip in his chest. “Ryan, you’re a genius!” He nearly tackled Ryan to the ground in a hug before letting go and rushing back into his apartment, closing the door behind him.

            Ryan stood shell shocked in the hall way, stiff and very, very, confused. “I, you’re welcome?” He said after a moment before shaking his head, smiling. If he left now, he would just make it to work on time, so he started down the stairs. He just hoped that Ray would be able to stay his neighbor.

* * *

 

             This was his best idea yet. Within minutes of putting his sniping services out there, Ray had enough job offers to pay his rent for the next few months. He smiled from the roof top that was hundreds of feet from three of his targets. It was just his luck that three of his targets were at the same party. He had just hit a party a week ago, but he saw no problem in making his sniping outings more unpredictable than they already were. Tonight was sure to send the police into complete confusion.

            His employers would pay him through their own means. He hadn’t given any of them his real name or address, so he would have to go to different locations to get his money. Everything was in cash, untraceable. He had given each employer the address of different abandoned buildings. All he had to do was pick up his money whenever he could. This set up was perfect, he might even be able to quit his job at GameStop, but that was getting ahead of himself.

            He just had to line this shot up just right.

* * *

 

            Ryan found that he enjoyed strangling people far more than stabbing them. To see the life drain out of their faces as they clawed at his clothes, it was intriguing. Each person had a different look to them when they died, there was also the added bonus of not having to clean up the blood afterwards.

            He would kill two or three people, dump their bodies in different holes, then go home. The Hole Murderer they called him, what a stupid name. At least the Sniper had some finesse to it. It was like the police had no creativity at all. Granted, all of their man power was going towards stopping the murders so he really couldn’t blame them.

The Sniper, what a challenger. Recently the other murderer had started to up his game, more people dead a night, more clever kills. It was a challenge if Ryan had ever seen one and was he excited to take it.

             He hoisted the limp body of his latest victim onto his shoulder. He was still shaking from the thrill of the kill. He was just starting to leave when glass shattered on top of him, something heavy and large landed next to him, and people were screaming.

            Ryan jumped and ducked around the corner quickly, looking around for what caused the commotion. The screams were faint and the glass was in small and large pieces. He looked up the building he had been next to. One of the floors in the middle of the building had a broken window. On the ground next to where Ryan had been standing was a body. Blood pooled around the body quickly.

            Had someone jumped out of the window during a party or something? Either way, he had to get out of there before someone came into the ally and saw him there with his own dead body. He quickly made a run for it, scanning the buildings. How ironic it would be for him and the Sniper to be killing in the same spot on the same night.

            There, he saw it. On a faraway roof, he saw the flash of a gun hitting the same building. The flash was so faint, Ryan believed for a second that he imagined it. But if not on that building, somewhere nearby was the Sniper. He smiled, wishing there was some way for him to tell the other murderer that he was there. As he approached the hole he was going to dump the body in, he pulled out his knife. He had an idea, it was risky, but he didn’t care. He just hoped his message would be seen.

* * *

 

            Ray was practically shitting himself the next morning. He stared blankly at the news, the piece of bread he was about to toast already on the ground. Just like every morning when he had sniped, the news was talking about his latest kills. However, it was not his kills that had him so shocked, it was the Hole Murder’s single kill.

            It was a body found in a freshly dug hole in one of the parks. What they were doing with it, Ray had no clue and didn’t care. What he cared about was the fact that the body had a hole carved into its forehead and the street number of the building he had shot into that night.

            Was the Hole Murderer there? Were they there when he shot into the building, killing three men with only two shots? The first to die had fallen through the window and plummeted to the ground in an ally. Did the guy land next to the mother fucking Hole Murderer or something?

            He read and reread the numbers the news had on the screen. They were the numbers carved into the body’s head, the exact numbers of the building he had hit. “Holy shit.” He managed out after a few seconds before smiling like a manic.

            Maybe he should find a way to tell the Hole Murderer that he got his message. He’d figure that one out on his walk to get his money.

* * *

 

            Ryan was smiling as he watched the news. Carving the address number of the building he was next to was a risk, but then again, he never hit them same place twice. The police would be all over that area thinking that the building meant something to him when it didn’t. Now that he was thinking about it, his message to the Sniper would work in his favor.

            Now, if only he knew if the other murderer had gotten his message. Oh well, he wasn’t even sure if the Sniper even watched the news. He shook his head and grabbed his phone as it vibrated loudly on his crappy kitchen table. He really needed to get a new one.

            He opened his phone and raised an eyebrow. Ray had texted him with a ‘get your ass out into the hallway’ and who was he to disobey?

            Ryan opened his door to find Ray standing in front of him, smiling like a lunatic. “Guess who’s not getting evicted?” Ray smugly asked Ryan.

            Ryan raised an eyebrow, leaning against his door frame, smiling. “I’m certainly not, so I have no idea.”

            Ray pouted at him, which was absolutely adorable, before smiling brightly again. “I’m not getting evicted!” He snorted.

            Ryan laughed, and that always made Ray’s stomach and heart do a weird thing and he couldn’t help but smile more. “Good job Ray, what did you end up doing?” he asked the younger man, moving aside so that Ray could enter his apartment.

            Ray happily entered and made a beeline for Ryan’s kitchen, sitting in the chair across from the one Ryan always sat at. “I found a job that pays me by the day.” He told Ryan, taking Ryan’s toast and inhaling it. “I worked for three days straight, I just paid off my rent.”

            Ryan shook his head and sat across from Ray after closing his front door. “Oh go ahead and help yourself to my food, it’s not like I was going to eat it.”

            Ray smiled cheekily at Ryan. “You’re such a kind host.” He took a swing from Ryan’s water glass while he was at it. “Aren’t you going to ask me what the job is?”

            “Stripping and selling drugs I presume?” Ryan joked, taking his glass back from Ray before standing to get him his own and to make more toast for the both of them.

            Ray snorted. “Nothing like that!” He laughed, shaking his head. Like he would have the social skills or courage to be a stripper. “I know this cities alley ways like the back of my hand, I took up a job transporting packages across the city for rich old farts. They pay well, touch too much though.” It was a clever lie he came up with to tell anyone who asked. He may or may not be testing his alibi out on Ryan.

            Ryan raised an eyebrow, setting a glass down in front of Ray before pulling out his bread. “Seems like a decent job, although, isn’t it a bit dangerous running around the city and taking the alley ways? Well, I assume you’re taking them.” He was worried for Ray. He was a skinny kid who didn’t know how to lift a box correctly. A mugger would take him out in seconds.

            Ray shrugged. “Not if you know the right ones to use.” He took a drink from the glass, nodding in thanks to Ryan. “And I’m not running errands at night, it’s not like I’m going to run into that Hole Murderer guy any time soon.” Although he would love to do so, just to tell him that he got his message.

            Ryan shook his head. “That’s not what I’m worried about.” Mainly because he was the Hole Murderer and he would never hurt Ray. “I’m more worried about muggers and you’re skinny ass.” He set down the plate of toast before sitting down. “You don’t exactly have a lot of muscle mass.”

            Ray snorted, looking overly offended. “I can handle myself thank you!” He smiled at Ryan. “Don’t worry about me Rye-bread.” He snorted at his own bad pet name, grabbing another piece of toast. “I’ll be fine.” Ryan’s worry did warm his heart in a weird, yet nice, way however.

            Ryan rolled his eyes at Ray’s nickname for him before shaking his head. “Alright, if you say so. I’d better not hear that you’ve been murdered in some sketchy alley or something.” And he really meant that. Out of everyone, Ray ending up dead would be the last thing Ryan wanted. Maybe he should give Ray one of his knives for protection.

            Ray smiled at Ryan. “I promise I won’t end up dead. They won’t even know I’m there.” And if they do, he’ll just shoot them. He was going to be on a rooftop.

            “Alright, and don’t let those old men take advantage of you either.” Ryan laughed, choosing to believe Ray for the moment. He’d have to pick a knife to give him later. “Are you still up for game night?”

            Ray smiled brightly, chuckling. “Hell yeah I am. I’m going to kick your ass at Halo again.”          

            “You’re on.” Ryan smiled, he always loved a good competition.


	4. Packaged Deal: Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They’re adorable shits, helpful I know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave me feed back! Thank you for reading!

            It was a game. Communicating through murders. Maybe this wasn’t a game anymore, it was a friendly competition. Although it felt more like a friendly conversation. Ever since he had carved the address into the head of his victim, the Sniper replied in kind, shooting their next victim in the mouth. Normally Ryan would have ignored it, but the Sniper always shot someone right in-between the eyes. To suddenly change location? It was a message, and he knew it was one when it kept happening. It just screamed ‘message received’.

            So he replied back, carving the address of the Snipers latest kill and every time he did, one of the Sniper’s victims would be shot in the mouth. ‘Message received’. Nothing wrong with two psychopaths communicating through murder.

            Ryan shook his head, watching the life drain out of another midnight wonder’s eyes. His mind was elsewhere however, it was time to change killing methods. Ray would be over tomorrow for another game night. He had said that he would be over late. Ryan glanced at his watch that was just under his sleeve as he gathered up the body. It was ten minutes from midnight, and, did the date on his watch say Friday?

            “Fuck!” Ryan hissed before bolting for his apartment, still carrying the body. He had gone his entire day thinking that it was Thursday. Where was his mind lately? He was thinking about other things too much. Work, Ray, killing people, but mainly Ray. He had only known the younger man for a year and yet half of the time he was all Ryan could think about.

            Thankfully he didn’t go too far from his apartment this time and was home in record time. However, he had a new problem. He had five minutes to not only change into anything but his murder outfit and he had to hide a body he stupidly dragged into his apartment without thinking.

            “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He growled to himself, rushing to his room. He tossed the body into his bathroom and slammed the door shut. Clean up this time around would take longer, he would have to make sure the body didn’t have anything on it that could be traced back to him.

            He was speeding around his room, throwing off his clothes and putting on more comfortable and less murder involved shirt and sweat pants. He glanced in the mirror and winced when his war paint stared back at him. He rushed into the bathroom, carefully stepping over the body, and hastily washed his face off.

            He glanced in the mirror to make sure he had gotten all of the paint off when his phone buzzed. A moment later there was a knock on his door. Ryan practically flew out of the bathroom, wincing as he accidentally slammed the door too loudly. He checked his phone to make sure that it was actually Ray outside waiting for him, before pulling the door open.

            Ray smiled at Ryan, carrying a large pizza box (he told Ryan that he would provide food because he was coming late). He had a heavy bag of other snacks in his other hand. He wore a black hoodie that was two times too big for him and baggy sweat pants. His feet were bare since he had literally just walked across the hallway, no need for shoes really.

            Ryan couldn’t help but smile at how adorable Ray looked in the hoodie. Ray had told him that the hoodie had been his fathers and Ray had gotten it as a hand-me-down. He stepped aside to let Ray into the apartment. “Hey, how much food did you bring?”

            Ray snorted. “That’s all I’m good for? Food?” He laughed. “A shit ton. We’re going to be so fucking fat!”

            Ryan chuckled, closing the door and following Ray into the kitchen. “We should eat first.” He said, eyeing the pizza box. He hadn’t eaten before stupidly going out on a murder spree.

            Ray nodded, placing the pizza box onto the table and the bag onto the sad amount of counter space that Ryan had. “Sure thing, but uh. Are you feeling okay Rye? You sound like you just ran a mile.”

            Ryan frowned, not realizing that he was still panting slightly from rushing back to his apartment with about two hundred pounds of dead weight on his shoulders. “Oh uh, yeah. I’m fine.” He said quickly, his brain scrambling for an excuse. “I decided that I should start working out more.”

            Ray raised an eyebrow. “Like you needed more exercise.” He snorted. “You’re fucking ripped man!” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Anyway, let’s eat!” He flicked open the lid of the pizza box and took a piece of the extra-large pizza he had ordered. Knowing the two of them, they would eat half of the pizza now then the other half, cold around five in the morning.

            “Not even going to bother with plates?” Ryan asked, grabbing a piece for himself. They normally forgoed plates because it was too much effort to wash them and they devoured the pizza too quickly for them to be of any use.

            “Nah, we’re too manly for plates.” Ray joked around a mouth full, finishing off his first piece and diving in to start his second.

            Ryan snorted, handing Ray a napkin from his, learned, convenient stack on the counter. “More like too barbaric.” He smiled at Ray before devouring his first and second slice.

            Ray took the napkin with a noise of thanks before watching Ryan take his third slice with a raised eyebrow. “When was the last time you ate?”

            “Lunch.” Ryan answered half honestly. He did eat at lunch, but it was a poptart that one of his co-workers had somehow managed to shove down his throat. He had a bad habit of forgetting the important things like eating or sleeping when he was focused on something. It drove his co-workers insane.

            Ray frowned at Ryan, watching as he devoured a sixth slice. “That’s not good Rye.” He grabbed two more slices for himself before Ryan could devour the entire pizza in one bite. “You should eat more.”

            Ryan shrugged. “I do eat.” And he did, when he remembered. Normally on murder nights he didn’t eat dinner at all. This was an improvement for him.

            Ray frowned, thinking. He absent mindedly watched Ryan devour one last slice of pizza before going through the snacks Ray had brought, placing chips and pretzels and other fatty foods into bowls for easier access. “I just got lunch hours free.” He said, grabbing Ryan’s attention. “We should go to lunch together!” He smiled, then blushed bright red. “I-I mean if you want to and have the time. A-and if your boss lets you off, don’t go ignoring work for me. I mean you should eat but if you can’t leave that’s fine, you don’t have to come. I mean work is important. You should still eat though-“

            “That’s a great idea.” Ryan interrupted Ray’s nervous ramblings with a smile. “I have an hour for a lunch break if I so chose to take it.”

            Ray looked at Ryan then smiled brightly, still blushing. “That’s awesome! We’ll start Monday!”

            Ryan’s heart flipped in his chest at how adorable Ray was in this moment, it was killing him. “Alright. That’s settled then.” He said with a nod. “So, what game do you want to play first?”

* * *

Just as Ray had predicted, it was five in the morning when he and Ryan finally stopped playing to finish off the rest of the pizza. It was cold, but they were tired and hungry and no longer cared.

They both devoured their fair share of pizza before Ryan pulled out water bottles for them both out of his fridge. “I need to piss.” Ray said after taking a swig of his water. He had actually needed to go to the bathroom hours ago, but hadn’t felt like moving.

Ryan nodded, drinking his water, as Ray shuffled over to the bathroom. It took a few seconds before Ryan realized what a bad idea it was for Ray to go into the bathroom and spat the water back into the bottle, choking slightly. He slammed the bottle onto the table, racing to get between Ray and the bathroom door.

Ray raised an eyebrow as Ryan suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking him from sweet relief. “Something the matter Rye?”

Ryan’s brain sluggishly searched for an excuse, it was way too early in the morning for this. “Um. One second.” He quickly opened the bathroom door, slide inside so Ray didn’t see the body and slammed the door shut.

Ray jumped and frowned. “Asshole!” He groaned, shuffling back to the table. All the bastard had to say was that he needed to go, hell, Ray had even claimed the bathroom first. “Shit host!”

Ryan ignored Ray’s insults as he stared blankly at the body lying in a heap in his bathroom. He was so fucked. Where was he going to hide a body? He scanned the bathroom, hoping an answer would jump out of the air and slap him across the face so he was at least more awake for this.

His eyes landed on the shower door. He had a small stand up shower with a white plastic door. Without a second thought, he picked up the body and tossed it into the small shower, closing the door quickly. He flushed the toilet and washed his hands of the gastrula juices that has seeped out of the body’s mouth when he had picked it up.

He opened the bathroom door and nearly ran into Ray who was standing with his arms folded in front of him. “Can I use the bathroom now?” Ray asked, annoyed but also too tired to actually be annoyed, he just really needed to piss.

Ryan nodded quickly. “Yeah of course! Sorry. It was a mess in there.” He said, stepping aside to let Ray through.

Ray quickly walked through the door. “I’ve been coming over for a year dude, who cares if your place is a mess at this point?” He snorted, shutting the door behind him.

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Ray wasn’t a busy body who would look in his shower for the hell of it. He wondered back over to the table and slumped in his seat. He just avoided the worst situation he could have imagined. Why hadn’t it occurred to him earlier in the night to hide the body in the shower? He had gone to the bathroom twice, just stepping over the body like it was a normal occurrence! What was wrong with him? Oh right, he was a dangerous psychopath with a history of murder. Great, now he sounded like that fucking lama with the hats that Ray had shown him.

Ray came out of the bathroom a few moments later looking relieved. He sat across from Ryan and drank from his water bottle. “Thank fuck. I thought I was going to fucking explode!”

Ryan chuckled and glanced at the time. Neither of them had anything to do tomorrow and like all of their Saturdays it would probably be spent lounging around doing whatever in Ryan’s apartment. “A few more games, or are you going to take the couch?”

Ray rubbed his eyes and yawned, the hoodie making him look much younger than he already did. “I’ll take the couch. It’s been a long week.” A very long week of stake outs and mercenary jobs, but Ryan didn’t need to know that.

Ryan nodded, standing and going over to the closet. He tossed a blanket and a pillow onto the couch. “Alright, good night Ray.” He said, shuffling towards his bedroom.

Ray yawned again, going over to the couch and face planting into the pillow. “G’night Rye-bread.” He mumbled into the pillow. It was so muffled that Ryan almost didn’t hear it.

He smiled at Ray’s nick name for him, having grown fond of it over the year. He closed his bedroom door, kicking his murder clothes into the closet lazily before flopping onto his own bed, exhausted. He called Ray his rose in his head, maybe that was a little weird, but he was really fucking weird so screw it.

He curled up on his bed, already half asleep. His mind drifted, thinking about Ray for the most part. When had the younger man consumed his mind? He didn’t know, didn’t care.

* * *

 

Ray watched Ryan clean up their mess from that morning from the couch. This was their usual Saturday. They would both get up around four in the afternoon, Ryan would clean, Ray would offer to help, but Ryan would insist that it was fine so Ray would sit on the couch and watch. This was admittedly one of Ray’s favorite part of staying over at Ryan’s.

He would watch Ryan’s every movement. Each bend of a muscle, his arms, legs, back, shoulders, hands, fingers. Good those fucking fingers. Ray liked Ryan’s hands, they were big and gentle. He liked it when Ryan would ruffle his hair, his hands were warm. Ray hadn’t had the pleasure of being hugged by Ryan yet, but god did he want to. Ryan was strong, but not obnoxiously so. He wondered, every so often, what it would be like to snuggle into Ryan’s chest and be held by him.

Ray watched Ryan’s back as he did the dishes, smiling. The couch was in the perfect position to see into the kitchen and to do the dishes Ryan had to have his back to Ray. Which was perfect because then Ray could stare at Ryan’s ass. He had such a nice ass. Ray should be embarrassed by his own thoughts, but he wasn’t. He loved looking at Ryan, whether the older man knew he was being stared at, Ray couldn’t tell, didn’t really care either. He also loved Ryan’s nerdiness and his humor and basically everything about him.

It was obvious to Ray that Ryan cared more about who a person was than what they looked like, but he had often commented on liking Ray’s appearance, just to get him to blush. If that wasn’t flirting, Ray didn’t know up from down. It was just too bad that Ray was a fail at anything social and would attempt to awkwardly flirt back. It made _him_ wince, he couldn’t imagine what Ryan must think of him. Yet, the older man continued to flirt with him.

Ryan suddenly turned around and smiled at Ray. “So, what do you want to do today?” He asked, giving Ray that ‘I know what you were just doing’ shit eating grin that made Ray nervous. Did Ryan catch him staring?

Fuck. Now was his chance to flirt with him, complement him or something. “Fffff I don’t care.” Ray winced, he was missing his chance! “Nice ass?” Oh great, just great. Why the hell did that come out as a question? And of all the things, why his ass? Couldn’t he have said, you have beautiful eyes? Because Ryan did. Or, I like you’re hair? Because Ryan had nice hair. But no, Ray had to question the obvious niceness of Ryan’s ass. He was going to die from how stupid he was.

Ryan seemed shocked for a second before laughing. “Thank you?” He offered back. Picking Ray’s feet up off of the couch, since the younger man was laying on it, and sitting down, placing Ray’s feet in his lap. “But seriously, what do you want to do today?”

Ray mentally groaned to himself. “I really don’t care.” He sighed, looking at the ceiling in despair. Why did he have to be so bad at this? Ryan was smooth as fuck! Why couldn’t Ray do something as simple as flirt?

Ryan watched Ray for a second before smiling. “You have beautiful eyes.” He said suddenly, startling Ray. The younger man looked at him confused, blushing. “I love how soft your hair is and you have an adorable nose.” Ryan continued, loving the growing blush appearing on Ray’s face. “You have such delicate fingers, and you’re ass is fucking gorgeous.”

Ray squirmed, blushing and unsure what to do with himself. Ryan always did this, started complimenting him on things and he never knew how to reply. He would always say something stupid and ruin everything. Ryan wasn’t giving him the change though.

“I love watching you move, you’re so beautiful.” Ryan reached for Ray’s hand and pulled the younger man to a sitting position, their faces inches from each other. “I love your humor and your wit.” They were too fucking close for Ray. He was still blushing and now he was getting lost in those blue as fuck eyes, was Ryan blushing too? What was going on? His head was spinning. “I just love everything about you my beautiful rose.”

Ray froze for a moment, they were kissing, Ryan was kissing him. Ryan mother fucking Haywood was kiss him, one hand still holding his own and another wrapped around Ray holding him up. He just melted, kissing back. He felt tingles going down his spin as his brain sparked to life, his free hand curling loosely into Ryan’s shirt.

Ryan kissed like Ray thought he would, gentle and loving. It was such a fucking innocent kiss that Ray didn’t know what to do with himself. He thought he was going to explode when Ryan pulled back, keeping them close together.

“Y-you smooth mother fucker.” Ray managed after a moment, making Ryan laugh.


	5. Packaged Deal: Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is their first date and they’re generally adorable shits. The bad shit is coming, I promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave me feed back! Thank you for reading!

            He absolutely could not fuck this up. Ryan stared at himself in the mirror, struggling to tie his tie. It had been some time since he had worn once and he had never been good at tying them. After their kiss, Ryan had asked Ray to go on a date with him, typically the kiss was supposed to come after the date, but oh well. It had been a fucking good kiss too. Ray’s lips were soft and it felt right having an arm wrapped around the younger man.

            Ray had happily agreed to the date, both deciding that it would be on Monday since most places closed on Sunday. They had spent the rest of Saturday doing what they normally did, playing games and talking over junk food. This time however, there was a lot more touching and Ray had ended up in Ryan’s lap at some point.

As soon as Ray, sadly, had to leave Ryan had called a nicer restaurant and got them a reservation for Monday night. He knew Ray wasn’t big on fancy places but he wanted to spoil the younger man, just a little. Ray had groaned when Ryan had told him that he had to wear a suit, but agreed to it anyway. This date may or may not have been a ploy to get Ray into a suit, and it was, but Ray didn’t need to know that.

However, now Ryan was nervous beyond belief. He couldn’t mess this up by saying something stupid. He couldn’t believe the words that had fallen out of his mouth before he had kissed Ray. When the hell did he get good at flirting? He was never that good at it. He blamed Ray, the younger man had a weird way of making him sappy.

Ryan gave up tying his tie on his fifth attempt and searched through his closet for the clip-on ties he knew he had. He found the nicest one and put it on. His mother had always told him that a proper man could always tie his own tie, but he was never interested in anything that involved being in a tie every day of his life. She may have taught him how to do it, but his mind long since forgot.

A nervous knock at his door made him smile as he pulled his jacket on. Ray had forgotten to text him in his nerves. Ray was extremely easy to read, Ryan knew that Ray was just as nervous as he was, but he found that endearing. He had met so many people who hid their emotions, it was tiring. It was nice to find that some people still wore their hearts on their sleeves.

Ryan opened the door and smiled. Ray was breath taking in a suit. The jacket fit him perfectly and the pants hugged him just right in every way. The younger man had a light blush across his face, but he was smiling brightly. His tie was unbelievable crooked and it had a single rose one it. “You look beautiful.” Ryan told Ray, letting him into his apartment. There he goes again, being uncharacteristically romantic.

Ray’s blush deepened and he gave Ryan a sheepish smile. “Thank you, you’re fucking hot.” He told Ryan, standing awkwardly in the living room like he had never been there before. Ryan knew Ray was instantly annoyed by his own words, but he loved Ray’s awkward compliments.

“Why thank you.” Ryan smiled, bowing robotically in front of Ray and getting a laugh. Ray instantly relaxed, making Ryan smile. That had been his goal after all. “You’re tie is crooked.” He pointed out, straightening. “May I?” He asked, taking a step closer, gesturing to the crooked piece.

Ray looked down at his tie then at Ryan, smiling sheepishly. “Please? I fucking suck at dressing up.” He admitted, holding still as Ryan undid his tie and started retying it.

Ryan smiled, all of his mother’s teachings suddenly coming back to him. “I’m not very good at it either.” He told Ray, finished fixing the tie and looking up at Ray, suddenly realizing how close they were.

Ray snorted. “Yeah right, you look dapper as fuck.” He smiled at Ryan then froze with a blush, realizing how close they were.

Ryan let go of Ray’s tie, about to back away to give them both some breathing room when Ray kissed him. Ryan was shocked for a second before melting into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Ray’s waist and kissing back. Ray’s arms were wrapped around his shoulders and their bodies were pressed close together. The kiss had been a bit sloppy at first, but it eased into a perfect molding of lips.

They pulled back, resting their foreheads together, both smiling like idiots. Ryan would have loved to stay like that for longer, holding each other and kissing, but they had gotten dressed up for a reason. “We need to get to the restaurant.”

Ray chuckled, pulling away from Ryan. “Right, let’s go.” He said, smiling adorably.

Ryan couldn’t help but smile back and offer Ray his hand. He intertwined their fingers as soon as their hands met and led the way down stairs. Ray squeezed his hand and Ryan found himself unable to stop smiling.

* * *

 

Ray was unbelievably uncomfortable. Fancy restaurants were not his thing. Pizza shops and homey diners, that was his thing. Not thirty fucking forks and elf food. Why were there so many forks? You only needed one to stuff your face, and the food was so tiny he could barely see it with his shit vision.

            Ryan looked right in his element, eating things with the proper fork and looking eloquent as fuck. Ray just mimicked him. ‘Doesn’t do fancy’ his ass. Ryan’s tie was fucking perfect! So was his suit, he filled it out perfectly and his ass looked fucking amazing. Ray just looked like a little kid trying to act like an adult.

            He would have much rather gone to the movies or some shitty diner, but then again, he wouldn’t have been able to see Ryan in a suit, and he highly enjoyed Ryan in a suit. Maybe he should cut his losses and be glad for what was given to him. He was going to pick their next date anyway.

            Luckily their entrée (look at him learning new fancy words for main meal) was much larger than their appetizer. It was fucking good too, the steak was cooked perfectly and the vegetables didn’t taste nearly as gross as he thought that they would. He’d still take McDonald’s mystery meat any day, he loved surprises.

            Although, he could tell that neither of them were very comfortable being in this fancy as fuck place. They had gotten some judgmental looks when they had walked in holding hands. This was not their element. They weren’t talking but they were communicating through gestures. Ray would subtly flip off some snob that kept staring at them and Ryan would laugh. Ryan would mock one of the disgusted patron’s faces and Ray would try not to lose it.

            They may not have talked the entire time, but they left the restaurant smiling. Ryan wrapped his arm around Ray’s waist just to fuck with the old rich fuckers some more. Once they were outside, they both burst out laughing. “Not my best idea, I’ll admit.” Ryan said calming down, taking Ray’s hand again.

            Ray smiled, intertwining their fingers. “I pick the date next time.” He smiled at Ryan, starting back towards their apartment building. “Although, the best part of tonight was seeing you in a suit and that one lady’s face when she realized that you were mimicking her.”

            Ryan followed Ray staying close so their shoulders were touching. “Oh yeah, the look on her face was priceless!” He laughed, squeezing Ray’s hand. “You also look amazing in a suit and please pick the next date. I fucked this one up.”

            Ray chuckled, squeezing Ryan’s hand back. “It wasn’t a complete fuck up, I still had fun. But I say we go back to your apartment and play some games.” He smiled at Ryan before kissing him on the cheek.

            Ryan smiled happily, nodding. “Alright, that’s a deal.” He chuckled, kissing Ray’s head. “Also, why the hell are we walking back to the apartment?”

            Ray shrugged. “I don’t fucking know, because I felt like it?” He smiled. “It’s a nice night and we didn’t talk much in there.” He admitted sheepishly.

            Ryan smiled, letting go of Ray’s hand to wrap his arm around his waist and pull him close. “You have a fair point there.”

            Ray blushed, smiling like an idiot. This was nice. This was unbelievably nice. He leaned into Ryan’s warmth. “See, I have good ideas.”

            Ryan snorted, shaking his head. “Of course you do.” He said with a sarcastic quip.

            Ray elbowed him, laughing. “Shut up.”

            Ryan smiled challenging at Ray. “Make me.”

* * *

 

            As soon as Ryan’s door closed, Ray had Ryan pinned to the door in a heated kiss. Ray’s fingers were tangled in Ryan’s hair and their bodies were pressed close together. Ryan was taken aback for a moment but then he eagerly kissed Ray back, his hands finding the younger man’s hips.

            Ray licked at Ryan’s lips and Ryan happily let him in, their tongues fighting for dominance. They hadn’t really talked that part of their relationship out, however everything easily feel into place when Ryan easily flipped them and Ray let him win their fight. Ryan’s tongue explored Ray’s mouth and Ray’s fingers tightened in Ryan’s hair.

            They pulled apart for only a moment to breathe before they were at is again. Ryan’s hands slide to Ray’s ass and found that it was as nice to hold as it was to look at. Ray gave a muffled squeak before pushing against Ryan’s tongue again. Ray gently tugged on Ryan’s hair and Ryan squeezes Ray’s ass and both men shuddered.

            The pulled apart for a second time, foreheads resting together. They were both smiling through their panting. Ryan wrapped his arms around Ray’s waist and Ray gently ran his fingers through Ryan’s hair. Both were content with not going further, there would be plenty of time for that.

            “How about we just lay on the couch and chill?” Ray suggested, catching his breath. He would be more than happy to cuddle and make-out for the rest of the night, and seeing as Ryan kissed him again, slower this time, and walked them to the couch until they were laying on it, he agreed with the idea.

            They laid there for hours, at some point, their suit jackets and shoes came off. Ties were undone and in Ryan’s case unclipped. ‘This entire time I thought you were a fancy mother fucker with your perfect tie, but no! You were using a clip on you cheat!’ Ray had joked when Ryan had taken his tie off.

            They spent the night on the couch, talking, kissing, touching. Ryan kept tracing Ray’s jaw line and cheek bone with his finger, his touch was so lite it almost tickled. Ray kept playing with Ryan’s hair, it had gotten long since they had met and he enjoyed messing it up only to straighten it out again.

            At some point they fell asleep, tangled with each other. As they laid there, they weren’t a college student and a graphic designer who admittedly hated his job just a little bit. Nor were they the notorious murder and mercenary. They were just happy to have found someone who understood, even if they had to keep the same secret from each other.


	6. Packaged Deal: Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray returns from an unexpected trip and Ryan goes a little more mental cause he's had a shitty week. Generally, they're cute before things go to shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things pick up quickly in the next chapter....hehehe  
> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!

Ryan leaned against the brick wall, watching the street. He hid in the darkness of the alley, waiting for his next victim to stumble past. Today had been a mess, Ryan nearly pulled his hair out. His boss was an asshole, and Ryan nearly strangled him. Instead, when the bastard had called him in to yell at him for who knows what, Ryan actually tackled him. It had been the last straw. Ray had been gone for a few days to see family so Friday had been a little too lonely. Monday sucked ass, some idiot fucked their entire project and Ryan got the heat for it. Tuesday, his computer blew up with a blue screen of death. Wednesday some moron tried to break into Ray’s apartment just as Ryan had gotten home. Needless to say, that guy was very, very dead. Thursday the project was lost for some ungodly reason. Then today, the day Ray was supposed to come home, Ryan was fired for nothing.

            He had almost killed his boss, almost. He managed to hold back long enough to only tackle the man to the ground and knock him out. Apparently the man didn’t remember that part, just that Ryan was fired because he got his good bye email and the police weren’t busting down his door. He watched the drunks pass the allies opening for hours, waiting. He was looking for someone specific this time.

            Ray would be back around two in the morning, and Ryan had promised to wait for him. He wanted to just hug Ray tightly and not let go. However, Ray wasn’t here and Ryan wanted to get rid of all of his anger and frustration before his boyfriend got home.

            A man stumbled into view, heavily drunk and a noticeable bump on his head. Ryan smiled behind his mask. He had been looking for someone that generally looked like his boss, but he didn’t think the man himself would wonder past him. Ryan didn’t hesitate, he slithered out of his hiding place and pulled the man into the alley.

            His boss gasped and struggled, but Ryan slammed him into the ground. He shoved a cloth into his mouth and then pulled a knife out. He sat on his boss’s arms and twirled the knife in his hand. Ryan smiled at the horror filled look on his boss’s face. He was going to enjoy this.

            Ryan grabbed one of the man’s hands and held it down next to his head. He took the knife and carefully, slowly, began to cut his bosses fingers off. The man convulsed and struggled under Ryan’s weight, screams muffled by the cloth in his mouth.

            Ryan finished with one hand and started on the other, slapping his boss awake when he started to pass out. This was wonderful for his stress. He considered taking one of the fingers with him, but decided against it. Instead, he stabbed the man multiple times in the chest, gathered together the fingers and body, rubbed out the blood and went to find a dumping ground.

            It was one thirty when he finally draped the body on a tree, the fingers hanging from strings around it. Okay, this time was a little fucked up, but Ryan didn’t care. He had to get home before Ray and clean up at least a little bit. Or at least hide his bloodied clothes and weapons.

            Ryan climbed into his apartment and changed quickly, he threw all of his bloodied clothes and weapons into his closet and closed the door. Ray never went in there so he figured that he was safe there. He padded into the bathroom and washed his face, checking to make sure that he didn’t miss any of his paint. His hair was long enough now to be in a small ponytail, but it was a horrible mess. Ryan combed through his hair quickly before tying it back again.

            His phone buzzed and he glanced at the message. He smiled at the text from Ray telling him that he would be home in about ten minutes. That gave Ryan enough time to let his adrenaline run out before Ray came over.

            Ryan collapsed on the couch, feeling his heart rate slow and the fog in his brain to clear. He and Ray had talked multiple times over skype while Ray was gone, but it wasn’t the same. He smiled, thinking about when Ray knocked on his door and he could hold Ray, kiss his hair, and finally feel better about this entire shitty week.

            Ray had told him that he was visiting a sick relative, but not which one. Ryan didn’t pry, trusting his boyfriend to tell him what was going on. Ryan felt his eyes droop as he laid on the couch, so he sat up to stay awake. His phone buzzed again and he looked at the message.

            Smiling, he stood and opened his door. He was immediately tackled by Ray who wrapped his arms around Ryan’s neck, laughing. Ryan laughed, wrapping his arms around Ray, having to step back to stay up right.

            Ray sighed contently in his arms, his face nuzzled into Ryan’s neck. “Hi.” He said simply, chuckling.

            Ryan chuckled and kissed Ray’s head, already feeling better. “Hello my rose.” He said, smiling when Ray blushed at the name Ryan had given him. “We should get your things out of the hall way.”

            Ray laughed, letting go of Ryan and dragging his heavy duffle bag into the room. Ryan closed the door, picking Ray up once the duffle was generally where Ray wanted it.

            Ray yelped and laughed, wrapped his arms around Ryan’s shoulders. “Why?” He asked, playing with Ryan’s hair as he smiled at the older man.

            “You’re light and I’ve missed you.” Ryan smiled cheekily, walking them to his couch. He flopped down onto the couch, keeping Ray on top of him.

            Ray laughed, resting his head on Ryan’s chest. “I missed you too. My family was hell.”

            Ryan chuckled, rubbing Ray’s back. “Oh? What happened?”

            Ray sat up to look at Ryan with an annoyed look. “I was visiting my grandparents, they don’t have long and shit.” He snorted, shaking his head before continuing. “ ‘When are you going to get married?’ “ Ray mocked. “ ‘We want great grandchildren. I know this nice lady.’ Blah blah blah.”

            Ryan chuckled, running his fingers through Ray’s hair. “I’m guessing that you can’t tell them that you’re dating me?” He asked.

            Ray sighed. “They’re super homophobic.” He nodded, leaning down to kiss Ryan’s cheek. “You’re better than any girl anyway.”

            Ryan chuckled then kissed Ray, missing being able to do so. Ray happily kissed back, sighing contently. Ryan pulled back and Ray rested their foreheads together. “How’s work? Your boss still being an asshole?” Ray asked, smiling lazily.

            Ryan sighed, pulling Ray closer. “I was fired today.” He admitted. “And I may have tackled my boss and knocked him out.” Then brutally murdered him, but that’s not important.

            Ray frowned. “I’m sorry Rye, you didn’t get in trouble for that did you?” He asked, worried.

            Ryan shook his head. “No, I don’t think he remembers that part. I’m definitely fired though.” He sighed, smiling when Ray peppered his cheek with kisses.

            “Well, you’re smart.” Ray said, nuzzling their heads together. “I’m sure you can get a new job soon enough.”

            Ryan smiled. “I suppose.” He said, although he despised getting another desk job. He jumped when Ray’s lips were suddenly on his neck and the younger man’s hands were rubbing his sides. Ryan shuddered. “Ray?”

            Ray looked at Ryan again, a smirk on his face. “Maybe I can make it better?” He said lamely, but making up for it by grinding their hips together.

            Ryan shuddered, smiling when Ray moaned, panting lightly above him. He easily switched their positions. “You can definitely do that.” Ryan said against Ray’s neck, gently kisses up his neck then nipping at Ray’s jaw.

            Ray shuddered, smiling. “See? I’m good for something.” He said, wrapping his arms around Ryan’s neck. He tugged Ryan’s hair free and threaded his fingers in his hair.

            Ryan smiled, kissing Ray deeply, the younger man opening his mouth and letting Ryan in without a fight. Ryan rubbed Ray’s sides as he counted the younger man’s teeth. Their movements were lazy, they were both tired. They moved slowly, just enjoying having each other so close.

            Ray feel as sleep as soon as they were finished, curled into Ryan’s chest. Ryan held Ray tightly, gently playing with the younger man’s hair. He wrapped them tightly in the blanket purposely placed on the back of the couch. Ryan smiled, closing his eyes and slowly drifting to sleep. They had been together for a year now, and Ryan loved Ray even more. He loved his laugh, making him smile, helping him where he could. Ray made him warm, made him smile, and made him sane. If he didn’t have Ray, he didn’t know what he would be.

* * *

 

            Ray woke up sticky but warm. His back was stiff, but he was trapped in Ryan’s arms. Ray smiled, looking up at Ryan. The older man was sleeping peacefully, his lips parted slightly and his hair hanging in his face. Ray gently wiggled his arm free and pushed the hair back, straightening it.

            Ryan smiled in his sleep, subconsciously pulling Ray closer. Ray chuckled, watching the older man sleep. He knew Ryan had a rough week, it made Ray feel unbelievably guilty for lying to him. He hadn’t gone to see his grandparents, he was pretty sure that both sets were actually dead.

            He had been on a job, his target had been in New York, but had fled to Maryland as soon as Ray was hired. His employer paid for the plane ticket and demanded that Ray give chase. Ray was shocked at how much he enjoyed chasing his pray down. It made him fidget just thinking about it. He dreaded returning to New York and his college life. The only reason that he actually did return was for Ryan.

            He wondered if he could manage to convince Ryan that he had gotten a job that required him to travel a lot. It wasn’t untrue and he didn’t want to leave Ryan. He finally found someone who gave a damn. Someone who supported him and someone he wanted to be happy with. He loved Ryan so damn much, he really fell hard. He knew Ryan hated his job, but tried his hardest to make it better for Ryan. The least he could do was offer encouragement and give him hugs and shitty jokes when his day turned sour. Although he doubted that he would have to do that much now.

            He wanted to make it so Ryan could quite having to take shitty jobs and do something he cared about. He wondered if Ryan would care that Ray was the sniper. Maybe he could take Ryan with him. Regardless, Ray had to get out of the community college. He would figure out what to do from there.

            Ryan stirred next to him, his eyes blinking open. Ryan smiled at Ray then stretched. Ray took the wiggle room while he could, stretching and sitting up. There wasn’t much room on the couch, but it’s not like they didn’t like being close.

            Ray chuckled when Ryan’s arm wrapped around his waist lazily. “Morning rose.” Ryan said, sitting up. “We should probably shower.”

            “Probably, we reek.” Ray smiled, standing but nearly falling when his hips and ass hurt. Ryan was quick to catch Ray, kissing his head.

            “Alright?” Ryan asked, worried. “Need me to carry you?”

            Ray snorted, taking Ryan’s hand and walking to the bathroom as through he didn’t feel any pain at all. “I’m fine.” He said, turning the shower on and getting in without waiting for Ryan.

            Ryan chuckled and got his towels out before joining Ray in the shitty shower. It was barely big enough for one of them, it was a squeeze with two of them. Ray’s back was pressed into Ryan’s chest, the water falling between them. They scrubbed each other in turn, Ray spending more time on Ryan’s hair. “Are you going to cut it?” He asked as he washed the soap out of Ryan’s hair.

            Ryan shrugged. “I was thinking about it.” He said. “I just don’t like people near my head with scissors.” Call him crazy, and he really was, but he just didn’t trust a lot of people.

            “I can do it.” Ray offered, turning the water off and grabbing the towels. He handed one to Ryan. “I don’t know how good it’ll look, but it’s just hair.”

            Ryan smiled, wrapping the towel around him. “Could you?” He asked, letting Ray get out before following him. “We should probably do that while it’s still wet.”

            Ray nodded. “Sure.” He said, walking into the apartment. “But we should really wear pants first.”

            Ryan laughed and followed Ray. They threw on sweats and plain t-shirts. Ray stole one of Ryan’s shirts, because he knew the older man liked seeing Ray dwarfed in his clothes. 

            Ryan sat on one of his kitchen chairs as Ray got out the scissors and pulled Ryan’s hair back into a pony tail. “You sure?” He asked Ryan, opening the scissors.

            Ryan nodded, smiling when a weight was suddenly lifted from his head. Hairs fell to the floor as Ray cut his hair short like it was when they first met. Ray brushed off Ryan’s neck with the towel once he finished, letting Ryan stand. “Go take a look while I clean up.” He said, pulling out Ryan’s broom.

            Ryan smiled, padding over to his bathroom and looking in the mirror. For never cutting hair before, Ray did a good job. His hair was cut close to his head but still fluffy on top. He chuckled and came back into the kitchen.

            Ray smiled at him after throwing the hair away. “Like it?” He asked, setting the scissors on the table and walking over to Ryan.

            Ryan smiled, wrapping his arms around Ray’s waist. “It looks nice, thank you.” He smiled, kissing Ray’s head.

            Ray chuckled, wrapping his arms around Ryan’s neck. “No problem.” He said before kissing Ryan.


	7. Packaged Deal: Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Ryan find out that they're both murderers. This is their first job together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are mentions of rape in this one, but nothing in detail. People are horrible basically. Please leave a comment. Thank you for reading!

The body slumped in the shower and Ryan stared at is annoyed. He had tried to close the shower door, but the body kept pushing it back open again. This was the sixth time this month that Ryan had forgotten that he and Ray were doing something and he went out to murder anyway. He sighed and picked the body up, thanking whatever god or demon that cared about him that he had decided to strangle his victim tonight. Blood was hard to clean up or hide.

            Ryan dragged the body to his closet, hoping that it wouldn’t keep trying to escape from there as well. He was becoming anxious. He couldn’t stand the city anymore. He was going further and further to kill, even doing a few mercenary jobs to calm his nerves. He lived off of those jobs, he told Ray he got a new job, just not what job. Hell, Ray was what was keeping him in the city. He couldn’t detach himself from the younger man. He had tried, once, but stopped that just because thinking about never seeing Ray again pained him so much.

            Ryan found that he was growing more and more attached to his mask. He would forget that he was wearing it. He even answered the door once with it on. He had scared his elderly neighbor half to death. It wasn’t a different part of him anymore, it was him and he was happy with that. When he wore the mask, hunted down targets to kill, he felt more like himself than he ever did.

            However, Ray didn’t know that him and Ryan was okay with that too. Even without the mask, if Ray was around, Ryan felt just as equally like himself. It scared him, was he two different people? No, he was just himself. People saw the mask, the cruel bastard that murdered for fun. Ray saw Ryan Haywood, the kind gentle giant that would do anything to keep Ray safe. He was both of these things.

            Ryan was relieved when the body stayed in his closet. He quickly changed out of his murders skin and into his every day persona. He remembered to pull off his mask as Ray just opened the door to his apartment without knocking. They had been dating for two years, Ryan was completely used to Ray’s habits by now.

            “Hello rose.” Ryan smiled, pulling Ray into his arms. “How was work?”

            Ray snuggled into Ryan’s chest, wincing slightly. “Shitty.” He sighed. “How was your day?”

            Ryan frowned at the wince, pulling Ray to the couch and making the younger man sit. He inspected Ray’s side, already knowing about the bruises and cuts on his boyfriend’s arms. “Fine, did you get hurt again?”

            Ray hissed when Ryan’s fingers ran over his ribs. He hated worrying Ryan like this. “It’s not that bad Rye.” He argued.

            Ryan gently lifted Ray’s shirt and inspected the purple and yellow burse on Ray’s side. He frowned, making sure none of Ray’s ribs were broken. “What happened?”

            Ray sighed. “I was running a letter to some uppity up and this fucker in one of the alley ways pushed me into the wall. I got away from him. I’m alright Ryan.” He insisted. Actually, he had a small run in with the lackey of one of his targets and had a metal pipe slammed into his side.

            “Nothing is broken, thankfully.” Ryan sighed, letting Ray’s shirt fall before leaning up to pepper kisses to Ray’s jaw. “That’s not alright Ray.”

            Ray sighed, gently playing with Ryan’s hair. “I will be alright, how about that?” He offered.

            Ryan sighed again, sitting next to Ray on the couch before pulling Ray into his lap gently. “You should stop doing this job. You keep coming back with more injuries.” Ray had gotten into a knife fight which ended with injuries on his arms, he told Ryan he fell down some stairs. The targets he went after were getting more and more face to face. “I’m worried. I make enough for the both of us to live.” Ryan offered, gently running his fingers through Ray’s hair.

            Ray frowned. “I will not be a dead beat relying on you.” He argued. He loved his mercenary job, regardless of the injury. It was the thrill, the death, the money, the fun. He would leave the city for better jobs elsewhere if it wasn’t for Ryan. He was just as attached to Ryan as Ryan was to him. Ryan kept him sane and grounded. Just sleeping next to Ryan calmed the nightmares he had. He had so much blood on his hands that his entire body was painted red and if that didn’t just make a man a little insane. Too bad he already was insane. “But, I practically live here anyway.” He said, smiling. “Maybe I should just move in.”

            Ryan laughed, not thinking that Ray living with him would make his murder sprees harder. He just kissed Ray’s head. “Will you move in with me my lovely rose?” He asked, wanting nothing more.

            Ray laughed, snuggling into Ryan’s chest. “I think I will.” He said, kissing Ryan’s jaw. “We’ll do moving in shit tomorrow.”

            Ryan laughed, gently rubbing Ray’s back. They relaxed on the couch, talking about nothing in particular with the news droning on in the background. They only got up when they both got hungry. Ryan carried Ray to the kitchen just to watch Ray blush and squirm in his arms. They talked about the story arc of Halo as Ryan cooked and Ray watched. Ray was not allowed to cook, he tried once and nearly burned down the apartment.

            They ate over a discussion of why Ryan puts minecraft cows in holes all of the time. Ryan arguing that; ‘It makes them easier to find again!’ To which Ray always replied, while laughing: ‘Yeah, okay Rye.’

            Once their diner was over and the dishes were in the sink to be washed later, Ryan started to set up his game stations for their impromptu game night. “Hey Rye, can I borrow one of your shirts?” Ray asked, coming out of the bathroom. He was still wearing the dress shirt that he had worn to his meeting with an employer about a new target.

            Ryan nodded. “Yeah, there should be some clean shirts in my closet.” He answered absent mindedly, focused on what he was doing.

            “Alright, thanks.” Ray smiled, going into Ryan’s room.

            Ryan worked on the council’s until gears turned in his mind and he bolted for his room. He burst into the room, eyes blown wide with fear and nerves. Ray stood in front of his closet, still holding the door open. He was staring at the body that tumbled out of Ryan’s closet once the door was open.

            Ryan looked at Ray’s face, expecting fear, disgust, hatred. But Ray was smiling. Ray was smiling like he had just been given a new game that he had really wanted. Ryan stared in shock as Ray started to _laugh._ Did he think it was a fake? Ryan could role with that lie.

            Ryan was unsure what to do as Ray doubled over with laughter. He caught the younger man when he nearly fell over. “Ray?” He asked worriedly. Maybe this was just how Ray handled finding out his boyfriend was a notorious murder.

             “R-Rye.” Ray laughed out, smiling up at Ryan. “Are you the Hole murderer?” He asked, still smiling like an idiot.

            Ryan frowned at the old name. He had gone off the gird as the Hole murderer a year and a half ago. He picked up the new title as the Mad King among employers. Ray had called him that once during some medieval game and he liked the title. “I-I was, yes.”

            Ray smiled, standing completely by himself again. He chuckled, reaching up to trace numbers into Ryan’s forehead before pointing a finger gun at Ryan’s mouth. “You stopped talking to me.”

            Ryan’s went wide and his lips twitched up in a smile. “You’re the Sniper?” He asked, chuckling when Ray nodded.

            “I go by BrownMan now though.” Ray said, laughing. “How the hell did neither of us figure this shit out for two fucking years?”

            Ryan barked out a laugh, resting his forehead on Ray’s shoulder. All this time of hiding bodies and his murderous half and Ray was the Sniper, _BrownMan_ , a notorious killer in the mercenary world. They were both insane, they were the two sides of the same coin. “Hey Ray, want to go into business with each other?”

            Ray laughed, taking Ryan’s hand and squeezing it tightly. “That’s the best fucking thing I think you’ve said in a while Haywood.”

* * *

Ray smiled lazily as he pulled himself onto the roof of a small building. Their target was in the warehouse a few hundred feet from Ray’s chosen perch. He stretched before opening his small backpack and quickly assembling his sniper rifle. He placed the barrel of the gun on the short ledge that trailed around the building as he laid down.

            He got comfortable, looking down the scopes to inspect the building. All along the warehouse were small groups of men. Some had small handguns and others had big AKs. They were spaced out just enough that if one group was attacked, all of the others on that side could come running.

            A sizzle buzzed in Ray’s ear before a soft click. “How’s it look?” Ryan’s muffled voice asked him. Ray glanced around the target area until he managed to spot Ryan hidden in the shadow of a nearby building. Ray found it so odd that Ryan was in his mask. He was so used to the sweet smiles and silly idiot that was Ryan that he felt strange when Ryan was in his mask. Mask Ryan was completely different from normal Ryan. Although, Ray supposed that he was just as different while on a job.

            “One entire side can charge you Rye.” Ray said, pressing gently into the ear piece. “And a big boom will alert all of them.”

            “How many on this side?” Ryan asked, undeterred. He suddenly disappeared form Ray’s sights, somehow completely camouflaged in the shadows.

            Ray quickly counted. “Four sets of three so twelve.” He said, cracking a smile. “I can do math!”

            Ryan chuckled low over the coms. “Cover me?”

            “Always will.” Ray responded, smiling. He waited patiently for Ryan to make his move. He watched the men guarding their target intently, chuckling when one went down, a knife in his skull.

            Ray fired at the other groups while Ryan shot and bloodied the one he initially attacked. Ray was getting three kills in one shot, and soon enough they were all dead, but more were coming from the other sides of the building. Ryan had disappeared into the shadow’s again as Ray popped shots as men poured from either side of the warehouse.

            Ryan was firing from the ground now, Ray could see the faint flash of Ryan’s gun. He kept sniping men down, frowning when one of the men pointed directly at Ray’s perch before Ryan appeared out of nowhere and slit the guy’s throat.

            “I’ve been spotted.” He told Ryan, not really that worried as he covered Ryan’s back as the older man was expertly knifing people down.

            “Do you think it’ll be a problem?” Ryan asked, worry laced thinly in his voice. He waved in thanks to Ray when the man he had been fighting had almost gotten the upper hand but dropped dead with a bullet in his head.

            “I think I’m alright for now.” Ray said, counting the number of men left still fighting them. “There’s four left out here then I’ll join you on the inside.”

            Ryan threw his knife into one man’s head before stealing his gun and firing at the remaining three. “You’re not good close up.” He said, taking out another man while Ray managed to kill the remaining two with one shot. “Steal an AK when you come down.”

            Ray didn’t reply. He moved quickly, disassembling his gun and putting it in his pack. He climbed down the building and snatched up an AK from one of the dead men as he ran up to the warehouse. He could hear sirens in the distance. “I’ve got sirens, where are you Rye?” He asked.

            “Other side of the building, I hear them too.” Ryan said, grunting over the coms. “We’ll meet at the main doors.”

            Ray crouched, sneaking along the side of the building. He glanced around the corner, and saw no one in front of the warehouse doors. He couldn’t see Ryan either. He felt nerves tug at his stomach. He hated being up close and personal with these things.

            As he turned the corner and edged closer to the huge opening, he saw Ryan and calmed down. They both stopped before the next corner, a huge door separating them. Ryan held three fingers up and counted down to one. They both slid, unseen, into the warehouse, using the shadows for cover.

            “What the fuck happened?!” One of the three men in the room hissed. He was big and had an AK strapped to his back.

            “The firing stopped.” A smaller man who was twirling a knife in his hand said. “Maybe they’re dead?”

            “Then why aren’t they coming to tell us?” The third man spoke, he wore a suit and had no weapons on him at all.

            A young girl who was tied to a chair whimpered from behind the rag tied over her lips. She was covered in her own blood and painful welts. She was basically naked, her clothes ripped away by the multiple bastards who had raped her.

            Ray’s blood boiled. He had his limits, and kids were it. He did not, would not, kill a kid. This girl was fifteen and the daughter of a corrupted diplomat who hired Ray and Ryan to get her back. Granted, they were originally hired by the man’s wife to return the girl to her instead. It as a bunch of double crossing bullshit because the father hired these fuckers but the deal went to hell and it’s a bunch of annoying bullshit that Ray didn’t care about. They were doing this for the mother for free. The women just wanted her daughter back. Sides, they had already taken the father’s money.

            Ray heard Ryan’s annoyed growl over the coms. “Armatures.” The older man hissed. Ray could hear that Ryan’s blood was also boiling. Ryan had the same rules that Ray did. Neither would nor would ever kill a kid.

            “Fuckers.” Ray hissed lowly back, moving into a better position to take out the smaller man. “I’ve got shorty.”

            “I’m going to pop a cap into the hulk then gouge out suits eyes” Ryan hissed. They had been watching these three men for days in order to do this job without getting the girl hurt. The three men were the ring leaders, and Ray and Ryan had given them codenames.

            Suits was the main guy, he didn’t get his hands dirty. He ordered the others around and he was guilty of raping that poor girl the most. The hulk was a hire hand, wanted in only two states, both with murders. Shorty was suit’s brother, a shitty little man with a drinking problem.

            Without needing to communicate, Ray and Ryan shot at the same time. Ray’s shot buried itself into Shorty’s eye while Ryan riddled the Hulk with bullets.

            Suits gasped, horrified at his protections deaths. He grabbed a knife and held it to the girl’s throat. “K-kill me a-and she dies!” He stuttered out.

            Ray growled, the girl was crying and this fucker was dying. He stayed in the shadows as Ryan emerged, his body language looking pissed. He dropped the AK on the ground and pulled out the knife Ray had given them a few weeks ago as a gift. It had R&R carved into it with roses coming off of it.

            “S-stop! D-don’t move!” Suits was shaking like a leaf, the knife nowhere near the girl’s throat anymore. Ryan walked slowly, and his hands shook.

            Ray smiled, coming out of the shadows right behind Suits. “You’ve made him mad, now you’re fucked.”

            Suits jumped away from Ray and ran straight into Ryan, dropping his knife. Ryan grabbed the man up by his neck then looked at Ray. Suits dangled from Ryan’s hand, gagging. He was clawing at Ryan’s arm, trying to get him to let go.

            Ray was beside the girl’s side in an instant. He quickly untied her, gently whipping the tears from her face. “Hey Bethany.” He said softly, gently coxing the girl into his arms. “We’re going to take you home to your mom, okay?”      

            Bethany sobbed and collapsed into Ray’s chest, clinging desperately to his shirt. Ray pulled his purple hoody off and wrapped the poor girl in it, completely blocking her view of what Ryan was going to do.

            Once Ray had the girl in his arms, Ryan stabbed suits in the eye, taking no join in the man’s pained screams. He swirled the knife in his socket, liquefying his eye. Ray covered Bethany’s ears, letting the girl cling to him in fear. Ryan did the same to Suit’s other eye until the man stopped screaming and dropped him.

            Ray gently picked Bethany up bridal style, using his jacket to cover her modesty. Ryan stayed out of sight, knowing that he would terrify the poor girl. “Have you even been in a helicopter?” Ray asked Bethany cheerfully as he left through the warehouses back door, the sirens he heard louder just outside now.

            “N-no.” The girl said weakly, clinging to Ray’s shirt.

            Ray smiled at her. “This is going to be awesome then. You’ll love it.” He reassured her before jogging for their meeting point. Ryan had ran out before them, going to get the waiting helicopter.

            Ray climbed the fire escape with Bethany clinging to his neck. Once on the roof, he gently rocked back and forth with the girl in his lap to calm her down. Normally this would be weird, normally this would be bad, but she was just tied to a fucking chair for an entire year being abused and beaten. She needed babying and Ray was alright providing that, it wasn’t like the girl was going to let go of him any time soon anyway.

            Ryan landed on the roof soon after they had climbed onto it. Ray quickly climbed onto the copter, wrapped Bethany in the blankets and strapping her in. He held her hand as Ryan took off, smiling at her and telling her stories about the funny things he had seen in games and the news to make her laugh.

            They flew well out of the small city they had been in and into the next town over. On the roof of a tall government building they landed, a small group of people waiting for them. Bethany’s father smiled, a news team behind him. Ray pulled a skull mask similar to Ryan’s over his head before they landed.

            “I-My mother!” Bethany was shaking, staring at her father with wide, terrified eyes.

            “Shhhh, it’s alright kiddo.” Ray pulled his mask up a bit to smile at her. “We’re fucking your dad over then taking you to your mom. He paid us, but we’re doing this for your mom for free.”

            Bethany looked unsure, and Ray couldn’t really blame her after the hell she had just been through. Once Ryan landed the copter, Ray hopped out, mask now fully on. Ryan watched from the cockpit, ready to help Ray if he needed to, but mostly there for their quick getaway. He didn’t shut off the motors.

            “You’ve returned with my daughter!” The father yelled over the noise, coming over and shaking Ray’s hand. “Thank you!”

            Ray looked at the News caster, who was yelling into her mic as she and the camera came over to them. They were live? Well, not for long. Ray waved to Ryan and the older man opened the door a small amount to shoot a bullet into the camera, breaking it but not hurting anyone.

            The news caster and the camera man were wise and made a run for it as soon as they realized what had happened. Ray smiled under his mask when the politician went red in the face and started screaming at them. “What are you doing?!” he demanded.

            Ray did not feel like yelling today so he handed the man an envelope from his back pocket. Written on the letter in Bethany’s mother’s hand writing was ‘This is what they sent to the police and the news.’

            The man didn’t even have time to process what was going on before Ray had hopped back into the helicopter and Ryan was taking off again. He screamed after them, but Ray just laughed, pulling his mask off and smiling at Bethany. “See?”

            Bethany smiled at him. “Are you bad men?” She asked him and he frowned, tensing at the question.

            “Well, we do whatever the hell we want.” Ray shrugged, smiling again. Sometimes they were Robin Hood and other times they were the worst mother fuckers on the Earth. Technically nothing they did was legal, but who gave a shit? The police had no fucking clue who they were.

            Bethany smiled, apparently satisfied with that answer. They didn’t talk for the rest of the flight to her mother’s home. Bethany eventually fell asleep, so Ray joined Ryan in the cockpit. Ryan nodded to him, and let Ray play with his hand while he didn’t need it.

They returned Bethany to her mother, which they were both happy for them. They disappeared without a trace like they always did. For their first job together, they hadn’t done too badly.


	8. Packaged Deal: Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ray and Ryan are finishing up an undercover job and Ray really wants to punch that mother fucker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was inspired by another fic for this chapter, Origami by MelodramaticMrTails. Read their fic if you haven't, it's really good!  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/2353442  
> Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment!

            Ray hated the jobs where the goal wasn’t to go kill a bitch. He hated the ones where he had to act and pretend, as he had done for years, to give a damn about the target, get them to think he loved them, earn their trust, then bring Ryan in to torture them into giving them information. These jobs always made him feel slimy. If he was lucky and he didn’t have to work on site, whenever he was back with Ryan in whatever safe location they had chosen, he would sit in the shower for hours. Just to make the slimy feeling he had go away for at least awhile.

            This job however, required him to be an on cite servant to the target, a slimy old man that got way too touchy. It had only taken a month for Ray to convince this old fart that Ray had feelings for him. It had been two months of hell and keeping himself from punching the guy’s teeth out for the old fart to think he loved Ray back, however fucked up that was. This was by far the fastest job, but it also made Ray feel the worst. The old guy was grabby and he was abuse physically and emotionally. He hated this guy with a burning passion.

            He knew Ryan hated these jobs just as much as he did. They hardly took them, but if the pay was really good, who were they to complain? Well, Ray complained, he complained a lot. The worst part of this job was when the old bastard had hit Ray hard enough with his cane that it had broken his arm. The old man had thrown some money at him and told him to take himself to the hospital. Ray left the building and called Ryan.

            Ryan had been pissed. He wasn’t made for these kinds of jobs, he was too blunt. He was just as good an actor as Ray, but it was hard for him to pretend to be submissive to someone he couldn’t stand, which was nearly everyone that was a target. Ryan had taken care of Ray’s arm himself, cursing the old bastard the entire time. He almost didn’t let Ray go back, but they had taken the job, and they prided themselves on completing every job.

            Thankfully, today would be the last day for this particularly bad job. The old man, Cain Sanders, was a paranoid fool. He had high security system and a few guards, which Ray had taken the pleasure in firing a few moments ago. Now he was unarming the security system. Once it was down, Ray opened the back door in the kitchen. Thank god for old people and their way too big houses.

            A few minutes later, Ryan slipped into the house. He was wearing his skull mask and his usual job outfit. He nodded to Ray before disappearing into the shadows. Ray sighed, watching his boyfriend leave the room, although any normal person probably wouldn’t have noticed him. It always unnerved him how different Ryan was when on the job compared to when they were alone. He understood it. If the clients saw the loveable nerd that was Ryan, they wouldn’t get jobs and their targets would not be terrified into give them information, but it was always so strange to Ray.

            Ray shook his thoughts, walking towards Cain’s office where he knew the old man still was. He knew Ryan was following him but didn’t look for him. He knocked twice on the heavy wooden door and received a gruff ‘come in’.

            As soon as he opened the door, he felt Ryan brush past him and disappear into the shadows of the room, it was easy enough; the room was covered in plants and bookcases. Ryan had gently touched Ray’s shoulder as he entered, a subtle ‘I’ve got your back.’

            “Will, my boy!” Cain stood as Ray entered, grabbing his cane from where it was leaning against his desk. “I trust that you’ve taken care of the house?”

            Ray bowed his head slightly. “I have Mr. Sanders.” He said, not looking up. He already felt gross and his arm, still in a cast, started to ache. “The staff was sent home and the system was set.”

            Cain chuckled breathily, walking over to stand in front of Ray. He took Ray’s uninjured arm and kissed his fingers. Ray suppressed a shudder. “Good job my boy. Why don’t you spend the night with me?” He moved closer.

            Ray wanted to vomit. Cain had never suggested that before and now that he had, Ray wanted to just deck him right there, but he had to wait for a few more moments. He had only just disabled the security system and that took a few minutes before it was fully disabled and useless. “Can I?” He asked Cain in a weird childish innocence that was killing him. He gave Cain a shy adoring look that was actually way too murderous if anyone with a brain actually bothered to look.

            Cain didn’t look. “Of course my pet.” He moved closer. “You’ve done rather well this past month. I know we had a spat.” He gently ran his hand from Ray’s shoulder to his cast, holding it. Ray’s arm ached. “But that’s all over now.”

            Ray wanted to punch the bastard then curl up into a disgusted little ball in a shower, maybe with Ryan in the shower as well, they’ll see how this goes. “I’d be honored, Sir.” The clock on one of Cain’s book cases chimed the hour. Ray had disarmed the security system in time with the clocks chimes. “But there’s something you should know first.”

            Cain smile faltered for a moment. “What’s that my boy?”

            Ray pulled away from Cain a bit. “I sent the guards home.” He said, watching the anger grow on Cain’s face. “And I disabled the security system.” He smiled triumphantly.

            Cain was fuming. “You useless shit! Why would you do that?!” He yelled, raising his cane. “I fed you and clothed you and you’re just a little fucking mess up!”

            Ray just smiled then slammed his cast into Cain’s head. His arm would be fine, Cain’s head, however, was bleeding. Sides, that was unbelievably satisfying. He had acted like a weak scrawny kid before. “You didn’t do shit.” He snorted, watching Cain struggle to his feet.

            Cain held his cane shakily in front of him. “W-what are you doing Will?!” He growled. “You little shit!” He raised his cane to hit Ray but when he want to swing the cane held fast.

            Ryan held the cane tightly, Ray could see Ryan’s angry eyes behind the mask. “That’s enough.” He growled at Cain, pulled the cane from the old man’s grasp and breaking it in two. He grabbed Cain before he could move away and had him in a choke hold easily.

            “W-what is this?!” Cain sputtered. “Release me at once! Will!” He looked at Ray for help, but Ray was already moving the desk chair to the middle of the room. “You shit! I saved you!”

            Ray looked at Cain unamused, he gestured for Ryan to do what he needs before wondering around the room. “I wouldn’t anger Ryan if I was you.” He said absent mindedly, pulling out the drawer that held Cain’s keys.

            Ryan threw Cain onto the chair and had his wrists zip tied to it in seconds. He growled at Ray’s comment, glaring at Cain through the mask. “You’re going to tell us the safe’s combination.” Ryan told Cain.

            Cain wasn’t paying Ryan any mind, he was too busy watching Ray and struggling against the ties. “What are you doing?! Will! You love me!”

            Ray walked over to the cupboards behind Cain’s desk. He glanced at Cain over his shoulder. “He recently had his appendix removed.” He told Ryan before unlocking the right cupboard, revealing Cain’s secret safe. No one else in the house knew about this safe except for Cain and Ray. This was the reason that they needed to gain Cain’s trust, so that Ray could find the safe.

            Ryan nodded, feeling through Cain’s shirt for the stitches. He pushed into them until they snapped and his fingers broke though the half healed incision. Cain yelled in pain, shaking. “Tell us the combination.” Ryan said, pulling his fingers from Cain’s side, watching the blood soak the old man’s shirt. “If you do, maybe we’ll tell someone you’re here. If not.” Ryan pulled out one of his many knives, Ray happily took note that it was the one he had given Ryan a few years back.

            Cain started to panic then. “W-who sent you! I can pay double what they’re paying you!”

            “No you can’t.” Ray said evenly. “And customer confidentiality and all of that.”

            “What’s the combination?” Ryan asked, pointing the knife at Cain’s chest. “Or do I have to start skinning you?” He sounded far too happy at the idea of doing so, Ray would have loved to see it.

            Cain was shaking. He struggled to look at Ray. “Will please! You love me don’t you? Stop this!”

            Ray stared emotionless at Cain. Like hell he loved him. “You broke my arm for bring you food that you had wanted.”

            The tip of Ryan’s knife was pressed into Cain’s chest, drawing the old man’ attention to the threatening man in front of him. “I don’t like it when Ray’s hurt.” He growled. “What’s the combination?”

* * *

 

            “There’s everything.” Ray chimed happily from in front of the now open safe. “All of the black mail you’ve gathered on our clients over the years!” He pulled out a bag and started filling it. “About time Cain.”

            Cain sat slumped in his desk chair, breathing rigidly. The majority of the skin on his right arm was peeled off and lay on the floor in a pool of blood. The old man didn’t have the energy to respond anymore.

            Ryan was cleaning off his knife, watching Ray. “Shall I?” He asked, gesturing towards Cain. He knew how Ray didn’t like to get personal with kills, but he always thought it polite to ask.

            Ray paused for a moment, then finished loading the safe’s contents into the bag. “I’ll do it.” He said, walking over to Ryan and handing him the bag.

            Ryan raised an eyebrow then smiled. “Alright.” He said. “He’s all yours. Any clean up I have to do?”

            Ray shook his head. “I already took care of it.” He held his hand out to Ryan. “Knife?” He had had to work in this god awful building without any weapons.

            Ryan placed the hilt of his favorite knife, the one Ray had given him, into Ray’s hand. “Take your time.” He sounded way too happy, but Ray couldn’t care less. Ryan left without another word.

            Cain looked weakly up at Ray. Ray stared back with cold eyes. “You treated me like shit, broke my arm, and you’re just generally a creepy as fuck old man.” He smiled, and judging by the look of fear in Cain’s eyes, it must have made him look bat shit insane. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

            When Ray emerged from the room Ryan was waiting for him in front of the door. Ray handed Ryan back his knife cleaned. “Have fun?” He asked Ray, following him towards Cain’s car.

            Ray was back to his neutral appearance, his own mask during jobs. “I see why you like knives.” Was all he said before getting into the car and taking their bag of goods from Ryan.

            Ryan chuckled and hopped into the driver’s seat and started to drive. “Check the bag.”

            “You raided the rest of the house didn’t you?” Ray asked, looking through the bag and pulling out high end jewelry and other relatively useless things that they could sell.

            “It had to look like a robbery.” Ryan said, still in his work voice although they were in the car alone.

            Ray nodded, digging through their loot. Ryan always stayed in work mode until the skull mask came off. Ray had learned over time to hear Ryan’s emotions in his voice, but the mask did its job in hiding Ryan’s emotions from others. Work Ryan was stiff and had a flat voice that took Ray a long time to read. He was stern and never did anything unnecessary. He never touched or talked about Ray in any way that indicated that he cared about him. Even around long term clients that knew they were dating, Ryan never broke character and wouldn’t even look at Ray. That intern made Ray want to make things difficult for him of course. Normal Ryan mode instantly wrapped his arms around Ray when he was in his lap, so Ray would sit on Work Ryan’s lap sometimes. He just liked to see Ryan flinch. To the observer, it was like he didn’t want Ray there at all, but to Ray he saw Ryan struggling to not put his arms around Ray.

            Ray didn’t like Work Ryan sometimes, he was so different from Normal Ryan. He much preferred the loving man who liked to randomly hold him or poke his sides or smile at him for no reason. The one Ray would return home to after some missions who had stayed up worried about him and knew that Ray wanted nothing more than to cuddle or just sit in the shower together. The Ryan that knew him so well that he knew just the right words to get him worked up or calmed down. The slightly crazy Ryan that put cow’s in holes and talked about delicious murder in a stupid voice. The Ryan that would randomly put roses everywhere for Ray to find. He loved that Ryan, but with Normal Ryan came Work Ryan, the stiff robot that didn’t seem to love Ray at all. But Ray had learned, it was all in Ryan’s eyes. Even if his face was just as stiff under the mask, Ryan’s eyes always gave him away. Someone could only see Ryan’s eyes if they looked close enough, but everyone was too scared of Ryan to do that. Ray wasn’t. Even if Ryan was a cold blooded murderer, it didn’t matter to Ray, because he was one too.

            They arrived at the hotel that Ryan had gotten for them shortly. It was a fancy hotel, made for those rich bastards that wanted to visit a big city to flaunt their richness. Ryan liked spending his fair share of the money while Ray liked keeping it.

They entered looking far below that standard. The hotel staff didn’t question them, they didn’t even look at them more than once. That was probably Ryan’s doing. He probably had the entire staff under his thumb.

Their room was on the top floor, and Ray was itching to lay on the large bed in the room. It would be better than the literally broom closet that was just a bed that he had had back at Cain’s house. He had already seen the room when Ryan had fixed his broken arm, and he wanted nothing more than to shower where he knew he wasn’t being watched from a hidden camera. Ray had chosen not to let Ryan know about that part, although he had ripped the fucking things out of their spots before turning off the security system.

As soon as they entered, they did a quick scan on the place, you could never be too careful, then Ray dropped the bag on one of the many tables Ryan had requested and collapsed on the bed. He practically moaned at how comfortable the bed was and curled up into a ball on it.

Ryan chuckled, moving around the room. He head Ryan moving things around and emptying their bag of loot. He knew Ryan was separating the things that they needed to give their clients and the loot he had stolen from the rest of the house. He was still Work Ryan, and he would be until Ray started whining or until the job was done for the night.

Ray was too content on just lying there on the bed to complain. That was two months of pure hell, his body ached from bruises and sleeping in a broom closet. He still felt disgusting from being touched by that old bastard, but a shower could wait for a bit.

He flinched and reached for were his gun should have been when he felt fingers card through his hair. He relaxed when the fingers didn’t threaten him and he remembered where he was and that he didn’t need his gun.

“Relax rose.” Ryan said, playing with Ray’s hair. Ray for some reason loved that pet name that Ryan had given him, he had thought that he would hate it, but he didn’t. “You’ve had a shitty two months, how’s your arm?”

Ray glanced at the table to see that their loot was only half sorted. He had gotten Normal Ryan much sooner than he thought that he would. “It’s fine. It felt fucking great to punch that fucker.” He smiled up at Ryan, not even startled that he was met with Ryan’s war pain. The mask hung loosely from Ryan’s other hand.

“I bet.” Ryan scrunched up his nose. “I don’t know how you do these jobs, I wanted to punch him the moment he spoke.” He admitted, walking over to the bathroom. “I wanted to stab him when he touched you.”

Ray chuckled, watching Ryan enter the bathroom, then listened as he washed his face. He exited the bathroom with a clean face and no mask. He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto a chair. “I don’t like these jobs.” Ray pouted slightly. “They make me feel disgusting. Cain was the worst!” He said, sitting up with a shudder. “And he kept grouping my ass!”

“To be fair it’s a nice ass.” Ryan chuckled, taking off his boots. “But it’s my ass.”

Ray snorted. “You wish.” He smiled at Ryan who smiled back. “I’m just glad this jobs over.” He said, flopping back onto the bed.

“So am I.” Ryan said, sitting down on the bed next to Ray. “Let me see you’re bruises.”

Ray sighed and nodded. He sat up and took off his far too tight servant costume that Cain had put him in. It fit him a little too well, there was nowhere to hide weapons. He sat in only his boxers and looked at Ryan. “We’re burning that the first chance we get.”

Ryan chuckled and nodded. “Whatever you want my rose.” He said, reaching out and gently running his fingers over a bruise that covered Ray’s shoulder. He frowned. “He really did a number on you.”

Ray sighed. “He was good with that cane.” He admitted. He had bruises on his back, shoulders, side, and legs. His arm was broken and he had a shallow cut on his ribs from when Cain threw a knife at him. The bruises were an ugly yellow and his arm began to ache. “I really want to take a shower.”

Ryan stopped tracing Ray’s bruises and pulled him into his lap with ease. He held Ray close to his chest. “In a moment.” He said, running his fingers over the cut on Ray’s side.

Ray let Ryan hold him. Ryan did this every time Ray got hurt. He hated seeing Ray hurt, especially by himself. It drove Ray insane that sometimes Ryan would treat him like he was paper thin. But he knew that Ryan was terrified that one day he’ll snap and he’ll hurt Ray and he’ll never forgive himself if he does. So Ray let Ryan treat him like he’ll break. He wouldn’t, he hadn’t yet, and he doubted he ever would. But he knew Ryan needed that confirmation that Ray was alright and alive and not something he was hallucinating.

Ray couldn’t help but smile and snuggle into Ryan’s chest. He loved this Ryan. “I’m alright Rye.” He said, leaning up to kiss Ryan on the cheek.

Ryan smiled and kissed Ray’s head. “I know. Go take a shower.” He said, removing his arms so that Ray could get up. “Do you want me to join you?”

Ray stood, grabbing Ryan’s hand and dragging him into the bathroom. “I’d better get hot shower sex after this month.” He said, giving Ryan a suggestive smirk before removing his boxers and throwing them at Ryan’s head once they had entered the bathroom. “Are you coming?” He asked, turning on the water.

Ryan removed his clothes so quickly that Ray barely had time to register that Ryan was in the shower before the older man was pressed against him kissing his neck. Ray couldn’t help but laugh, leaning back into Ryan.


End file.
